Ascended
by Dowds111
Summary: A boy with a dark past from another world, brought to this one for unknown reasons. With new friends and a new life, he ventures to find his destiny and prove to the world that he is strong.
1. Chapter 1

_Water. Sinking. I'm sinking. Something hurts. I'm bleeding._

_I'm going to die._

_I turn my head. I want to see my hand one last time. The water's too dark. Everything starts to drift away. The faces, the voices, the memories, they're all fading out. _

_My lungs scream. I struggle and open my mouth. Cold, black, disgusting water floods in. It tastes like garbage. _

_A light cuts through the darkness. It's blinding. Two small shapes grow out of it. Grow or come closer._

_One's a bird. I want to tell it we're underwater, but I can't. I'm too tired and I've got too much water inside. I'm so damn tired._

"_He is the other. Take him back." I hear it, but in my head. Is this an angel? A song begins. It's beautiful. I wait to disappear into it._

_The smaller creature moves closer. "Mew," it says._

_Another flash, and everything winks out._

Chapter 1: Rose

Waves rolled against his skin. His eyes inched open. Half his vision was sand. Wet sand. Water crashed against his side again.

Everything hurt. He tried to move his arm and pain tore through his body. He lay still. The sky hung violet overhead. The moon hovered behind some mountains in the distance.

_What happened?_ He remembered sinking. He remembered the flash. He remembered the two creatures, or whatever they were.

With effort he turned his head. A small hole leaked blood out onto the sand. He'd been shot.

He couldn't remember anything. Thoughts slipped away as he grabbed for them. _Cale. My name is Cale_.

Cale lay there, unable to move, and the sun fully set.

When night came, he heard someone approach. Footsteps nearly muffled by the sand. He could hear a voice too.

"…so I'm glad to be coming home." A kid. Maybe fifteen, or sixteen. Something replied, but Cale didn't catch it. "When we get back there'll be a big welcoming committee and everything! I can't wait to see Brock, Misty and Tracey. How about you Pikachu? I bet you can't wait to get back either."

"Pika," something squeaked.

Then the footsteps stopped. Cale heard something scurry up to him. "Pikapi! Pikachu!"

"What is it Pikachu?" The footsteps came closer.

As Cale slipped away, he heard the boy shout. He felt hands grab him, and he screamed in pain.

"_Sorry Cale." He's sad. There's a bang. Blinding pain, and I'm falling back. I hit the water._

* * *

The dream ended in pain. He woke to a sunny day, pleasant room, and his head being torn in two. He clutched his head, and panted until the pain went away. _That was no dream_.

Before he could think on it further, he realized he had no idea where he was. He sat in a bed, covers down by his hips, in a room overlooking a giant field. A desk sat shoved in a corner, and he saw two doors. One opened to a hall, the other to a bathroom.

He remembered the beach and the boy with the strange sounding animal. Everything before was gone. _Cale. My name is Cale._ He knew that much. He knew where he was from. He reached for more and found nothing.

When he moved his arm, it hurt. He looked and saw a bandage wrapped tight around his shoulder and upper arm.

"Are you alright?" Cale looked to the door, where a pretty older woman stood. She seemed concerned. "I heard a shout, so I came to see if you were okay."

_Did I shout?_ Something about her looking concerned bothered him. He tried to think of what, and got mad when he couldn't. "Who are you?" His throat ached a little.

She smiled and walked into the room. "My name is Delia. My son Ash and his friend Pikachu found you by the beach."

"Where am I?"

"You're safe," she said. "This is Professor Oak's Laboratory. Our town doesn't have any hospitals or Centers, but with some luck, he was able to treat you here."

"Treat me?" He looked back at the bandage.

Her smile left. "You'd been shot."

Cale looked at the ground. _Shot. Yeah._

"You must've fallen off a boat, because you were washed up on a beach south of here."

_Not a beach. A pier. It's pouring. There's city lights from the skyscrapers behind the man. He's sad. His name is Mark. He points a gun at me. "Sorry Cale." There's a bang. Blinding pain and I'm falling back. I hit the water._

As the memory rushed back, Cale gripped his head with his good arm. It felt as bad as before. Delia rushed to his side. "Are you alright? Should I get the Professor?"

"I'm fine," he managed to say.

"Maybe you need more sleep."

"No." He didn't want more visions. "I'd just like to walk around."

Before she could say no, Cale stood. His legs felt wobbly and fatigued. He managed despite it.

"Well, alright." Delia didn't look very convinced. "I brought you some clothes because you were naked." The way she said it made him blush. She pointed to the desk where a black t-shirt, a pair of jeans, socks and boxers sat folded. "I hope they're your size. They used to be my son's and he's not even as old as you now."

"Thank you." Cale supported himself against the bed and smiled. He felt surprised at the affection.

"Don't mention it. I'm sure everyone would love to see that you're okay and you're feeling better. What's your name, anyway?"

He hesitated, again, without knowing why. "Cale."

Her eyes stayed on him for a moment. "Well, come on down when you're ready." She walked towards the door.

"Why are you doing this?" He asked before he even thought.

She turned back. "What do you mean? I told you, you didn't have any clothes."

"No, I mean," he coughed, clearing his voice. "I mean, why are you helping me?"

"You needed it," she said. Then she left and shut the door.

Cale sat on the edge of the bed. _I needed help, so they helped me_. He didn't believe it. There must've been some reason they'd helped. They must expect something of him. Except, he didn't believe that either.

They'd pulled him from the beach, brought him to this place, fixed his wound, and given him clothes. So why did he expect them to betray him? _I can't remember. I don't even know why I'm the way I am._ His mind pushed against itself and lay back down. "The hell's going on?"

"_Mew."_ He remembered the two things in the water. What were they? Had they brought him here? His leg hurt. He looked down and saw he had been pounding his fist against his thigh. He took a deep breath and stood up. _I'm not going to get any answers in here._ He picked up the clothes with his good arm and walked into the bathroom.

He looked in the mirror. _Five nine, slender, short brown hair, brown eyes, and a slightly upturned nose that I'm apparently self-conscious about. Well, at least I know I'm me._

It took a few minutes to dress one handed. Ash's clothes were small on him too. Feeling uncomfortable, Cale left for the hall.

A dozen paintings of grasslands and prairies adorned the walls of the hall. He heard voices to the left, so with a deep breath he headed towards them.

Around a corner he found a staircase. It overlooked a longue full of couches, a coffee table, television and potted plants. On the couches were four teens.

One had messy black hair, with a baseball cap pulled over it. He wore a black t-shirt similar to one given to Cale. Next to him sat a pretty red-haired girl, her hair in a sideways bun.

Across from them sat a larger, tanner boy. He looked closer to Cale's age and wore a serious expression. The final teen wore a tropical green t-shirt and red headband. Those two, and the girl, were paying close attention to the boy in the hat.

The boy saw Cale at the top of the stairs and stood. "You're up!" Cale recognized the voice from the night before. It must've been Ash, Delia's son. He had a big smile on his face. "Are you okay? What happened to you? What's your name?"

"Cool it Ash," the girl said. "You can't expect him to answer all those questions at once, can you?"

The older boy nodded. "Misty's right Ash. He's just been through a very intense situation. I doubt he wants to talk about any of that."

"I was just asking," Ash said. He looked back up at Cale. "Can you at least tell us your name? Mine's Ash."

Ash's goofy looking grin didn't do anything for Cale's nerves. "Cale."

"Nice to meet you."

The red haired girl and the older boy stood up too. "I'm Misty."

"And my name's Brock. Good to see you up."

The fourth kid got up. "I'm Tracey. It's nice to meet you."

Cale walked down the steps and shook their hands. They all smiled and they all offered their congratulations on being alive. He wanted to leave. He told himself this boy, Ash, had probably saved his life. Yet, he couldn't help but look for a way out. His chest felt tight.

"Are you hungry?" Ash's voice brought Cale back to reality. "My Mom is whipping up some breakfast."

He nodded. "Yeah, I'm hungry." _Actually, I'm starving._

"Alright!" Ash pumped his fist in the air, and everyone rolled their eyes. "Let's get some food. I bet Pikachu already helped himself to the kitchen's entire supply of ketchup.

Then, a small yellow cross between a rodent and a rabbit walked into the room, a bottle of ketchup in its hands. Cale jumped back. "Jesus!"

Misty jumped. Everyone else turned to look at Cale. "What's wrong?" Ash asked.

The little thing looked up at him. "Pi?" He recognized the squeaky voice from the night before.

Cale pointed at it. "What is that thing?"

"That's just Pikachu," Ash said.

"So what the hell is a Pikachu?"

No one seemed eager to answer. "Uh," Tracey said. "A Pokemon?"

This was going nowhere. "Okay, so what the hell is a Pokemon?"

"What do you mean 'what's a Pokemon?'" Ash's eyes were wide. "Everyone in the world knows what Pokemon are, they're everywhere."

"Oh yeah?" Cale asked. "Well not in New York."

"New York?" Ash seemed more confused than Cale. So did the others.

"Yeah, as in the city?"

"Where's that?" Brock asked.

"New York City? It's in America."

Misty shrugged. "I've never heard of that place. But you're in Kanto."

Cale had been born in New York City, the most recognizable city in the world. These kids didn't even seem to know it. _I don't even know my last name. But I _know_ that much._

"Breakfast time!" Delia's voice came from the kitchen.

"Pika!" Pikachu went back in.

Ash beckoned Cale on. "C'mon, we can finish this after we eat."

Misty smirked. "There he goes again, putting his stomach before anything else."

"Hey, this is a stressful situation." Ash walked into the kitchen. "We shouldn't have to deal with it on empty stomachs."

Cale watched them all walk in. His stomach growled. _What the hell is happening?_

* * *

Professor Oak stared at Cale from across the table. They'd just been introduced. "So Cale, would you care to tell us what happened?"

Cale felt like a lab rat. "I don't remember."

"You don't remember anything at all?" Everyone sat around the table, watching him. They all looked concerned. Cale looked for an exit.

"No." He started to beat his thigh with his fist again.

"Okay," Oak said. "Do you know anything about yourself?"

"My name is Cale. I'm eighteen and I'm from New York City." He felt exposed. Those three facts were all he knew of himself. _I have to get out of here._

"And this New York City is in a place called America?"

His head hurt. "Of course, where else would it be?"

Oak nodded and pulled a folded piece of paper from his pocket. "This is a map, Cale. Could you show me America on the map?"

"It's kind of hard to miss."

"Please?"

Cale took the map and unfolded it. Unfamiliar land masses jumped out at him. _Johto. Sinnoh. Kanto._ Nothing he recognized. "What is this?"

"This is the world, Cale."

He pushed the paper away. "Ridiculous."

"I'm afraid not." Oak refolded the map and put it away. "This is very strange."

"Are you sure you can't remember anything before Ash found you?" Brock asked.

Cale stood up. _I have to get out._ "I don't know what you're trying to pull here, but this is done." No one said anything. "I may not remember anything, but I know who I am and where I'm from." He turned from the table and walked out of the kitchen.

"Hey wait!" Ash followed him out and grabbed his shoulder. Cale ripped away and kept going. "We're just trying to help."

Cale whipped around. "I didn't ask for your help, or to be part of this experiment or social study or whatever the hell all this shit is!" The words left him on their own.

"You were dying." The voice was Delia's. She'd come out of the kitchen behind Ash.

Cale frowned. "Yeah well, sometimes shit happens." He looked back at Ash. "Next time you find me on a beach, leave me there." Then he was out the door.

Outside, the sun shone down on him. The streets around him were thick with trees. _The suburbs I guess. First things first_. If those two things from the water were out there, he needed to know where 'here' was first. He went looking for a gas station.

Fortunately, the small town had one only a few blocks from Oak's Lab. He entered the minimart attached to it, and walked up to the counter.

The clerk smiled at him. "Can I help you?"

"Can you tell me where I am?

"Why, the local minimart." He had a good chuckle at that.

Cale groaned. "What town am I in?"

"Pallet Town."

"Is this in Jersey?"

"Never heard of a Jersey," the clerk said. "We're in Kanto, of course."

His mind stopped working. "Where are your maps?"

"Over there." The clerk pointed to a spinning magazine rack.

Cale walked over and ripped one open. A bright, huge picture of Kanto popped out at him. A red star next to the sea said "Pallet Town." He went back to the clerk. "Do you think this is funny?"

"What're you talking about?"

Cale threw the map in the clerk's face and left. _If he's in on it, everyone could be in on it._ He stopped at the curb. _In on what?_ That this town of people would pretend to be part of a country that doesn't exist for the sole reason of torturing a boy who had been shot and lost his memory? What else could it be?

_I'm crazy_. He sat on the sidewalk. He claimed to be from somewhere that didn't exist. Had he lost it? Had he dreamed up New York and America? The history of entire country? Of an entire world? Was Cale even his real name?

"Ratta!" Cale looked to his left and jumped. A large, purple rat stared up at him. It sniffed the air and backed away slowly, before dashing off into the bushes.

"It's called a Rattata." Cale turned and found Ash behind him, his yellow rodent perched on his shoulder. "It's a Pokemon, like Pikachu."

"What'd you want?"

"We've been looking for you. We were worried."

"I told you, I'm not buying any of this."

Ash sighed. "I don't know what to tell you Cale. This is Pallet Town, in the Kanto region. We have Pokemon here that are rare to other parts of the world, but even so, Pokemon are everywhere. I don't understand why you've never seen one, and I've honestly never heard of this place you're talking about."

"So you think I'm crazy?" _Hell, I think I'm crazy._

"No." Ash shook his head. "Maybe you're just really, really lost. We want to help you."

Cale wanted to walk away. He wanted to leave Ash and the Pikachu thing and figure things out on his own. He didn't. The knots in his chest loosened. "Why?"

Ash chuckled and looked up at the sky. "You know, someone else asked me that once. I'll ask you what I asked him. Do you always need a reason to help someone?"

Cale had no idea where he was. His arm had begun to stiffen. He had no money, no food, and no choice. "Are we going back to the lab?"

"My house is closer. Everyone can meet us there."

* * *

Everyone regrouped at Ash's house. Again, they were seated around a table, with Oak across from Cale. "Now Cale," he started. "I know this must be a shock to you, and you must be feeling very alone and frightened and-"

"Yeah, I got it," Cale said. "Can we move on?"

"Well," Oak said, clearing his throat. "You must've accepted by now that you're no longer in America, so we're going to try and figure out what got you here and caused you to lose your memory." Oak set a tape recorder on the table and turned it on. "Can you tell us the first thing you remember?"

"Waking up on the beach where Ash found me."

"Is that really the first thing you can remember?" Oak asked.

Cale felt everyone's eyes bore into him. He started to beat his thigh, then stopped. "Actually, no. I remember sinking in water." He remembered the flash, and the two figures coming towards him, speaking to him. "Yeah. I was sinking and there was a bright flash and these two things came towards me. I've got no idea what they were, but one of them said something about bringing me somewhere. There was a song, and the other said something that didn't make any sense."

Oak was leaning over the table. "What did it say?"

"I think it said, 'Mew,' or something like that." Everyone's eyes went wide. "What?"

"This is very interesting Cale," Oak said. "Perhaps we should take a break."

"I thought you wanted to get to the bottom of this?"

"I do, but to go further, I think we may have to use some equipment back at my lab. With your consent, of course."

"What kind of equipment?" Cale didn't relish the idea of being a lab rat.

Oak held up his hands defensively. "Nothing dangerous or painful, just a device that examines your brain. I'd like to measure your brainwaves."

"You think there's something wrong with my brain?"

"Naturally, since you can't remember anything," Oak said. Cale had no response to that. Oak turned to Ash. "Why don't you and the others take Cale back to the lab and show him some Pokemon." He turned back to Cale. "And later, if you're feeling up to it, we can work on your problem some more."

"I guess so."

Ash jumped up. "Well, let's not just sit here. C'mon Cale, I want to show you all the Pokemon I've caught over the years."

After Ash, Brock and Misty had left with Cale, Professor Oak stayed behind at the Ketchum's with Delia and Tracey. "What do you think Professor?" Tracey asked.

Oak picked up the recorder. "Cale seems to whole-heartedly believe in this America of his. So either he's crazy, or he really is from some place called New York City."

Delia went to the coffeemaker. "How would that be possible? I've never heard of someplace like that."

"Neither have I," Tracey said. "And he also says that there aren't any Pokemon there either. Pokemon inhabit the whole world. How's it possible he's never seen one? He's older than I am."

Oak shrugged. "I don't know Tracey. Maybe he really isn't from our world."

Delia stood and the coffeemaker, brewing. Tracey nodded. "You may be onto something there, Professor," he said. "Mrs. Ketchum, remember your experience with the Unown? They reside in another dimension and were able to cross into ours."

"I remember," she said.

"Yes." Oak nodded. "And don't forget, many Pokemon have strange powers beyond our comprehension. Celebi can travel through time, so why can't a Mew travel between dimensions?"

"But why would they bring him here?" Tracey asked. "Because he needed help?"

"I find it hard to believe Cale was the only person in his dimension that needed saving. Yet, he appears to be the only one here. Whatever the case, there must be some special reason for him being here."

* * *

"So basically," Cale said. "These animals can spit fire and use telepathy?"

Ash bounced about. "Not only that. There are tons of things Pokemon can do!" He motioned to Pikachu, who sat on his shoulder. "Pikachu is an electric type. He can shoot thunderbolts from the sacs on his cheeks."

"Wow." Cale tried to take everything in. Countless Pokemon roamed around the large habitats Oak had at his lab. Some resembled animals from his world, others were completely foreign. "We don't have anything like this where I'm from."

"That's too bad," Misty said. "Pokemon are such amazing creatures, and they're so cute too."

Ash laughed. "Unless they're bugs, right Misty?"

"That's true, Ash."

"What do you do with Pokemon?" Cale asked. He regretted the question immediately. Brock explained Pokemon breeding, Misty ran a gym, and Ash had been training for years to become a Pokemon Master, whatever that meant.

When all was said and done, Cale collapsed on the couch in Oak's lab, hours later, exhausted. The information processed slowly through his brain, and it was a lot. Ash had just returned from some region, where he'd done exceptionally well in some sort of league. Misty and Brock had come to Pallet to visit him.

"Pika?" Cale looked down and found Pikachu staring up at him. "Pika! Pikachu!"

Cale blinked. "Huh?"

"Pikachu wants to know how you're doing." Cale turned and saw Ash smiling at him.

"You understand him?"

Ash shrugged. "Not the specific words, but I know what he means, or what he's trying to say. It's tough to explain."

"You can just tell?"

"Sure. Some trainers, when they've been with their Pokemon long enough, can learn to do that. I've traveled with Pikachu for a long time."

A cough brought their attention to Oak, who'd just entered the room. "Excuse me, but I was wondering if you'd be willing to proceed with the matter we discussed before?"

Cale shrugged. "If you mean the matter involving you monitoring my brain or whatever, then sure, why not?"

"Excellent!" Cale thought he sounded too excited. "Come with me please." The others joined them down the corridor in a large room full of monitors. Through the glass, was a smaller room, with a large circular machine in the middle. "Please step inside, Cale. Don't worry, it's perfectly harmless."

Cale entered the smaller room.

"The machine before you," Oak said, "is normally used to monitor Pokemon brainwaves, but it can also be configured to work on humans. If you'd be so kind as to sit in the large circle, with your head centered on that red area?"

Cale stepped into the machine and lay down, his head on the red circle mentioned. "So this will tell you what's wrong with me?"

"If you have any type of brain problem causing your amnesia, this machine will help to discover it." Cale heard a small click and found the circular tube closing all around him. Soon he saw nothing but plain, dull white. "Now just relax Cale, this should only take a moment."

Cale heard another click.

_Faces! So many faces! Smoke! Screams! Voices! Buildings! Sinking! Dying! Scars! The scars! "Pathetic." I remember that voice!_

Cale screamed and thrashed against the tube that just wouldn't move. "Turn it off! Turn it off!"

"Hold on," he heard over the screams in his head. Another click, and the pain went away.

The tube opened, and Cale slipped out and left through the door.

Everyone else emerged from the other room, Oak in the lead. "I don't understand what happened, it shouldn't have done that, all the previous results were perfectly norm-"

Cale grabbed his collar and shoved him against the wall. "Nothing to worry about, huh?" He pulled Oak forward and shoved him back. "What the fuck was that?" His whole body burned.

"I've no idea," Oak stammered. "I've used this machine plenty of times on others before, and nothing like that ever happened."

Cale didn't believe him. _He's telling the truth, stop!_ He released the Professor and took a few steps back. "You're not asking me to go back into that."

The others stood around Oak, wide eyes on Cale. "I wouldn't dream of it," Oak said. "What happened in there?"

Cale leaned against the opposite wall and closed his eyes. "I saw things. Flashes of things, anyway."

"What kind of-" But Cale had walked away.

* * *

Hours later, Cale sat sprawled on the couch in the lounge. The other teenagers sat around him, making small talk. He flipped through the channels, not paying the smallest bit of attention.

He'd seen faces and faces, and heard voices. He knew he should know them, but he didn't. _I know I know them. But I don't._ He wanted to sleep. He hoped he wouldn't dream.

Cale didn't see Oak enter, but the others were suddenly speaking to him.

"I was hoping to speak with all of you," Oak said.

"What's up Professor?" Ash asked.

"Please, follow me." Cale stood with the others. He wondered if Oak would have the nerve to ask him to enter the machine again. _Why would he?_ He felt sick for a second. He didn't like thinking like he did. He felt restless and mad. He wanted to blame something, not even someone. The worst part was, he couldn't know why he felt like he did.

"What's going on Professor?" Brock asked as they walked through the halls.

"Before you all arrived, I told you I had an important matter I felt you could assist me with. With all of the commotion with Cale, I'm afraid it slipped away from me." He looked at Cale. "If you don't mind Cale, before we continue to deal with your situation, I'd like to handle this other matter first?"

Cale shrugged. "Fine by me."

"Excellent, thank you." Cale half-heartedly listened as Oak explained something about towns and starter Pokemon. When he mentioned New Bark Town, his attention slipped away completely.

Oak pushed open the doors to the lab and they stepped out into the field. The cool air brought Cale back. "A few days ago, Professor Elm called and asked for my help with a serious problem. The newest Cyndaquil seems a bit troubled. It won't eat, save for enough to stay alive, and it sleeps only a little. When it isn't sleeping or eating, it doesn't move."

"That's terrible," Brock said. "Do you know what's wrong with it?"

"You'll see for yourself. Whenever Tracey or I get close to try and pick it up, the flames on its back light up, forcing us away. I was hoping that with your experience, you'd be able to talk to it and help it come around."

"Don't worry Professor," Ash said. "We'll do whatever it takes to help."

They walked across a field to a grove of trees. Oak pointed at one. "The Cyndaquil is over there."

Cale looked over at the creature. Small, with a pale underbelly and holes dotted amongst its black fur, the scars adorning its back were the most striking part about it.

Everyone started. "What happened to it?" Brock asked.

Cyndaquil stared off into space, not looking at anything. Its face was blank. "I'm not sure," Oak said. "It's possible it could've been attacked by another Pokémon in the wild. I can't figure out which one, though."

Cale stared at the scars. They burned their way into him. The voices of the others, the field, the other Pokémon, they all faded out. Pain fired through him. Something flashed.

"_Stupid!" Crack. Sharp, burning pain. Blood. My blood leaks out and runs down my back. He raises the belt again. Crack._

His eyes opened. He held his head in his hands. No one noticed. His back tingled. With his good arm, he reached under his shirt and ran his fingers across his back. He felt the crisscross of scars. In the vision, someone had been beating him. He knew he recognized the man, but he couldn't name him. _My father?_

He looked back at Cyndaquil. "It's been abused.

Everyone got quiet. "What are you talking about?" Misty asked.

"Cyndaquil," Cale said. "It's been abused. By a human."

Tracey looked back at Cyndaquil. "Who would do something like that?"

"Professor," Cale asked. "Was it caught in the wild?"

Oak nodded. "Yes, but Professor Elm would never do anything to harm this Cyndaquil. He loved Pokémon."

"Then it was caught, abused and released."

"Hold on!" When Ash spoke, everyone turned to him. "How do you know it wasn't just another Pokémon that did this?"

Cale stared him down for a minute. _Why not?_ He turned around and pulled his shirt up. Everyone but the Professor took a step back. _He must've seen these last night while treating me._ "Trust me," Cale said.

No one looked him in the eye. "Cale," Ash said. "I'm-"

"Don't," Cale said. "Don't ever. What are we going to do about Cyndaquil?"

Oak cleared his throat. "You should talk to it. Try and bring it out of whatever state it's in."

Ash and Brock nodded at each other and approached the Cyndaquil, one on each side. "Hey Cyndaquil," Brock said. "How are you feeling?" No response.

Cale groaned under his breath. _Did he expect that to work?_

"We know humans did this to you," Ash said. "That's terrible. Beyond terrible. But Cyndaquil, you have to know that not all humans are like that."

"He's right Cyndaquil. We know humans can be cruel towards Pokémon, but most of us love our Pokémon and become friends with them."

Pikachu, who had been resting on Ash's shoulder, leapt down and began to encourage Cyndaquil, who still didn't move or make a sound.

"Why don't you come inside with us?" Ash knelt down next to it. "I've got a Cyndaquil myself, you know." He reached out for the Pokémon. Flames erupted from Cyndaquil's back, and singed his hand. Brock and Ash stepped back.

Cale watched the flames sway. They called out in a way Cyndaquil didn't.

"That won't work," Cale said.

The others looked at him. "What won't?" Ash asked.

"Whatever it is you're planning to do next."

"Then what should we-"

"Nothing you say will make a difference."

"Why not?" Oak asked.

"Because you can't understand it, and it knows that." The others stared at him. "Cyndaquil's been through hell. To pull someone out of hell, you have to have been there too."

Ash nodded. "So you think if I let Cyndaquil know I've been where it's been, it'll snap back?"

Cale snorted a laugh before he could stop himself. "I doubt it."

"What'd you mean? Why?"

"C'mon Ash." Cale turned to him. "Have you ever been beaten? Told you were good for nothing? Left to die? Slept in the street, alone?" Ash didn't answer. "You say you've been in tough situations, I bet you have. But you've always had a warm bed to come back to. You had a mother who would take care of you, and friends who would help you. You had something to fall back on. Cyndaquil didn't. When you've got nothing to fall onto, you keep falling."

Cyndaquil continued to stare into space. No one said anything for a while. _Why do I know these things?_ Cale remembered the vision of the man, he thought of the faces he saw in the machine, of the words they spit at him. _Maybe I shouldn't remember_. "I'm going to see what I can do," he said.

Cale didn't look at Cyndaquil. He didn't say anything. He just sat down next to it, and stared off too.

They sat there for a while, and watched the sun begin to set. "There's a saying where I'm from," Cale said. "Life's a bitch and then you die." He looked down at the Pokémon. "Looks like you've hit a wall with the dying part." It didn't reply. "I almost died yesterday. Someone shot me and I fell off a pier. I nearly drowned. Before that though," he thought of his scars, "things were probably pretty bad. I've been abused, spit on, you name it. Don't ask me any details, but it's true." Cyndaquil blinked. "Like I said, life's a bitch."

"Quil?" Cale looked down. Cyndaquil stared up at him.

"Look." He pulled his shirt up so Cyndaquil could see the scars.

"Cynda," it said.

"Yeah." He let the shirt fall. "Just like yours." He looked into the Pokémon's eyes. "I don't know what I'm doing here and I'm all alone, Cyndaquil. But, I get it." _I'm not sure what I get, but I do. _Cale felt the Pokémon's eyes drill into his own. All his secrecy, all his precaution fell away for the little creature next to him. "Truth is, I feel closer to you than anyone else. I get it. And I'm sure you get it too."

He reached out and pet the Pokémon's head. No flames sprung out. "Cyndaquil," Cyndaquil said. It leaned over and put its head in his lap. Cale felt like crying. He didn't, though he felt his eyes well up. He turned back to the group. They'd left.

Cale woke the next morning in Oak's field. His back felt stiff from the tree he'd slept against. His shoulder hurt as well. Still, when he found Cyndaquil sleeping peacefully in his lap, he smiled. He felt, for the first time since everything started, okay.

* * *

"So, you're awake." Oak stood there. The sun rose behind him.

Cale looked up at him. "Guess, I'm an early riser."

"How's Cyndaquil?"

Cale pet his new friend. "He's getting better."

"So I see. You seem to have a way with Pokémon, Cale."

"Nah," Cale said. "I just understood how Cyndaquil felt."

"That in of itself is difficult for most people to do. You saw how the others acted, and they've been around Pokémon their entire lives."

"I don't really feel like talking about this."

"As you wish," Oak said. "But I think you'd make an excellent trainer."

Cyndaquil stretched and yawned. He looked up at Cale and smiled. "Cyndaquil!"

Cale pet his head. "Morning."

"If you'd like to come inside," Oak said. "I'd like to get back to talking about your situation. And for breakfast, of course."

"Hungry?" Cale asked Cyndaquil.

He nodded and hopped out of Cale's lap. Cale stood and followed the Professor across the field, Cyndaquil at his side.

"So what can Cyndaquil do?" Cale asked as they approached the lab.

"What'd you mean?"

"Well," Cale looked down at his friend. "Ash and the others were telling me that Pokémon know different attacks, based on their type. I'm guessing Cyndaquil is a fire type."

Cyndaquil didn't seem to be listening. Instead, he took in the sights of Oak's lab as if seeing them for the first time. Oak nodded. "You're right, Cyndaquil is a fire Pokémon and can learn many fire type attacks. However, this one is still young and only knows three. Tackle, Leer and Ember." The Professor explained them to Cale.

"Sounds tough," Cale said.

The Pokémon smiled up at him. "Cynda."

"How does it learn more attacks?"

"The more it battles," Oak explained. "The more experience it gains. That helps it grow, meaning that it can learn more attacks like Smokescreen, and Flame Wheel. If it gets enough experience, it can evolve."

"This all sounds complicated."

Oak nodded. "It can be. No one knows everything about Pokémon. There are always new discoveries being made. Don't worry, I'm sure you'll pick it up as time goes on."

Minutes later, Cale and Cyndaquil sat in the kitchen, eating happily by themselves. Cale enjoyed his eggs, while Cyndaquil chomped on whatever it was Oak had prepared for him. "So Cale," Oak said. He'd left for a minute, but returned now with a book in hand. "I think I may have a way to figure out what happened to you."

"A book?" Cale asked.

Oak set it down on the table. "This book is filled with information regarding Legendary Pokémon."

"And those are?"

"Most Pokémon are common sights, but there are a few that are rarely seen by people. We know they exist, as Ash and his friends have seen them. Most of them have special powers, and it's conceivable that some of them may be able to travel between worlds or dimensions. Are you following me?"

Cale crossed his arms. "Are you saying I'm from a different dimension?"

"Look," Oak said. "You're obviously not from around here. You claim to be from some place that doesn't exist. So either you came here from another dimension, which I'm willing to believe, or you're insane. I would like to entertain the former notion, wouldn't you?"

The two stared at each other. Cyndaquil glanced nervously between them. Finally, Cale smiled a bit. "Well, I guess I can't argue with that. Let's see it Professor."

Oak opened the book to a marked page. "I think this may be one of the Pokémon you saw."

Cale studied it. "Mew, huh?" He thought back to the silhouettes. "Makes sense based on what it said. You think this Mew was the one that brought me here?"

"Well, Mews are said to have existed since the beginning of time. No one has ever been able to capture a Mew and very few have been seen. They're powerful Psychic types and no one knows the full extent of their abilities. So why couldn't they travel between dimensions?"

"We've seen one." Cale turned and found Ash, Brock, Misty and Tracey in the door to the kitchen.

"You have?" Cale asked.

Brock nodded. "It lived in something called the Tree of Beginning. It's to the north of here, but I don't know if that's the specific one you saw. That one only left the Tree to find friends and toys. I don't see it going to different dimensions."

"But there definitely are other Mews out there," Oak said. "It just might take a little bit of looking."

"Or a lot," Tracey mumbled.

Oak flipped the page. "Now, then, what about the other Pokémon you saw?"

"It looked like a big bird. That's about all I remember."

"That could be any number of Pokémon. Was there anything else that stood out about it?"

"Not really."

"Wait a second," Misty said. "Didn't you say that a song started playing when you saw it?"

Cale nodded. "Oh yeah."

She turned to Ash. "Do you remember Lugia's song?"

"Hey yeah," Ash said, excited. "You think it could've been Lugia?"

"Do we know of any other Legendary Pokémon that sing?"

"What's a Lugia?" Cale asked.

Oak found its page in the book. "They're rare Pokémon that live in the sea, but have the capacity for flight. One of them, apparently, has the ability to communicate telepathically with humans."

"The one that could talk had a song that was sung about it," Ash said. "It used to sing it whenever something important was happening."

"And they live in the sea?" Cale asked. "Great."

Brock sat down. "Well, they do surface. We saw one back in Johto. But no one can really predict where and when."

Cale looked at the picture of the beautiful blue and white bird. _Guess I'll just have to look everywhere._

"So what are you going to do?" Ash asked.

He thought about his options. "I've no idea why I'm here. I can't remember anything about myself. I don't even know my last name. All I know is that for some reason, Mew and Lugia decided to bring me here. I want to know why."

Oak smiled. "Well then, it looks like you'll be going on your own Pokémon adventure, Cale. Will you be leaving soon?"

"Don't see any reason to stick around."

Misty frowned. "Don't you think you should let your arm heal before you start traveling the world?"

"My arm's fine," Cale said. He stood up. "Let's go look around, Cyndaquil."

His new friend smiled and followed him out.

* * *

Cale had spent the morning exploring more of the lab's grounds. For hours, he'd gotten lost with Cyndaquil in the forests and fields. Afterwards, he collapsed onto a couch in the longue. Cyndaquil curled up beside him. "Cool stuff they have here, huh?"

"Cyn." Cale noticed the difference in the way he acted around Cyndaquil, compared to other people. He felt more relaxed and more confident. He didn't think the Pokémon would betray him. _I don't think the others will betray me either, but I can't stop thinking they might_.

"RINGRINGRING! PHONECALLPHONECALL!" Cale and Cyndaquil jumped as the phone rang.

Cale covered his ears. "Who designed that?"

Oak ran into the room, gave a quick nod in Cale's direction, and sat in front of the phone. He pressed a button, and a thin man with glasses appeared on the screen. "Ah, Professor Elm, good to hear from you."

"Good to see you too, Professor," Elm said. "I was calling to see if you've had any luck resolving Cyndaquil's situation."

Oak smiled. "We have. Cyndaquil is doing fine."

"Really? That's great. I hope you don't mind sending it back, right away."

Cale hadn't been paying much attention to the conversation, but he heard that. He stood, as did Cyndaquil. The small Pokémon grabbed onto Cale's leg, and protested loudly. Oak excused himself from his colleague and turned to Cale. "I assume you don't want to see Cyndaquil go?"

"That's right."

"Well, give me a moment." Oak turned back to the screen and motioned for Cale to come closer. "Professor Elm, this is Cale. He's the one that helped Cyndaquil. They've taken quite a liking to one another, and he's decided to become a Pokémon trainer. Would it be okay if Cale kept Cyndaquil? It'd be terrible to tear them apart because of a silly rule."

Elm shrugged. "That's fine, but isn't he a little old? Most trainers start when they're ten."

Oak smiled. "Better late than never, right?"

Cale fell back onto the couch. The two Professors talked for a while before hanging up. "Thanks," Cale said to Oak when the call ended.

"Anytime," Oak said as he left the room.

Cyndaquil looked up at him. "Looks like we're permanent partners, Cyndaquil."

He smiled and rose on his hind legs. "Cyndaquil!"

News traveled fast. Only a few minutes had passed before Ash and his friends arrived to congratulate the two. "So how about a battle?" Ash asked.

Cale didn't get it. "What?"

"Well, that's what we trainers do. We battle our Pokémon."

Misty rolled her eyes. "Ash, are you crazy?"

"Yeah Ash," Tracey said. "Cale and Cyndaquil got together yesterday. You've been with most of your Pokémon for years."

Ash's smile grew. "But I just caught a new one a few days ago. It'd be perfect, Cale. What do you say?"

Cale looked his new friend in the eye. "What do you think?" To his surprise, Cyndaquil nodded. "Okay then."

A bit later, Cale and Ash faced each other outside, in the center of a field. Cyndaquil stood just in front of Cale. Ash smiled, a Pokeball in his hand. Brock stepped forward. "This is a one on one Pokémon battle. The battle will be over when either trainer's Pokémon can no longer fight. There is no time limit. Begin."

The others had coached Cale on Pokémon battles, so he knew a bit of the etiquette. He wasn't prepared for Ash's excited throw, his cry of "Go Shellder," or the big clam with a giant that appeared on the ground. _I'll probably see stranger things in the days ahead_.

Cyndaquil's flame erupted as he waddled out onto the field. "Careful, Cale," Tracey said. The kid stood behind him. "Shellder's a water type, which means it's really strong against a fire type like Cyndaquil." Cale nodded.

"You go first Cale," Ash said from across the field. "Seeing as how you're new."

"Gee, thanks." He remembered the list of attacks Oak had told him earlier. "Cyndaquil, use Tackle."

Cyndaquil dashed forward, faster than Cale expected, and slammed into Shellder. The clam slid back a bit, but seemed unfazed. "My turn," Ash cheered. "Shellder, use Water Gun."

A thick stream of water came from the shell and crashed into Cyndaquil. The little Pokémon flew back, and gave a yelp of pain. Cale immediately stepped forward, but recalled the rules. Cyndaquil wouldn't quit this early, so neither could he. "Ember."

Cyndaquil fired a series of flaming pellets. Before they hit, Ash called, "Shellder, Withdraw." Shellder sucked its tongue into its shell and closed. The Ember connected, but bounced off the Pokémon's hide. Cale cursed. "Shellder, Water Gun." Another fist of water barreled into Cyndaquil, who hit the ground in a heap, its flames extinguished. Ash smiled. "Sorry Cale, but you're not winning this one." He ordered another Water Gun. The water hit Cyndaquil and drove him further into the ground.

A flash hit Cale.

_Four kids. They're standing over me. They're kicking me. "You're nothing!" They keep kicking. Things go dark._

Cale had dropped to his knees. His body ached, and he had wrapped his arms around himself. His focus returned, and he saw Cyndaquil on the ground, helpless. His friend struggled to move. _No. I can't let him remember what it's like._

Brock raised his hand. "Cyndaquil is unable to-"

"No," Cale called. "Cyndaquil, get up!"

"What're you doing?" Ash asked. "Cyndaquil is hurt. You can't expect it to go on after all those Water Guns!"

Cale ignored him. "Get up Cyndaquil."

"Cale, Cyndaquil could be seriously hurt," Tracey was saying.

"Shut up," Cale said. He didn't care about the match. He didn't care about the kids who stared at him with horrified looks. He didn't care about his visions, or Mew or Lugia, or anything else. "Get up Cyndaquil." _He has to know it's not the same. He has to be able to tell the difference._ "You can get up Cyndaquil. You can win. Get up!"

The flames rose higher than before. Cyndaquil stood, silently, and glared across the field at Shellder. No one said anything.

"Cynadquil," Cale called. "Leer!"

Cyndaquil's glare turned into a scowl, and the Shellder inched back a bit.

"What you just did could've really hurt Cyndaquil," Ash said. "So hopefully, one more attack will show you how careless you were. Shellder, Water Gun!"

"Dodge and Tackle," Cale replied. Water streamed towards Cyndaquil, but the small Pokémon dodged away at the last moment. Righting itself, it barreled towards Shellder.

"Shellder, Withdraw!" The shell closed as Cyndaquil collided with it.

"Again!" Another Tackle; nothing. Someone said something about Tackles not working. Cale ignored them. "Keep going Cyndaquil, crack it open!"

Cyndaquil slammed its head over and over again into the shell, and on the fifth attempt, a small dent appeared in the thin line where Shellder's halves met. Cale smiled. "Work there, pry it open!" Cyndaquil reared back and slammed into the spot, and the shell popped open.

"Shell-" Ash started but Cale cut him off.

"Ember right inside!"

Cyndaquil took a deep breath and released Ember, pouring it down onto the Shellder's skin. The water Pokémon skidded back across the ground and sank, unconscious.

Brock raised his hand. "Shellder is unable to battle." He looked over the field of battle. "The winner is Cyndaquil. The match goes to Cale."

They'd done it. They'd won. Cyndaquil whirled around and charged his trainer. Cale, with a bright grin, held out his arms. Cyndaquil rammed into his chest so hard they fell to the ground. With a laugh, Cale hugged Cyndaquil close. He didn't need to say anything.

After a minute, Cale stood, Cyndaquil still in his arms. "Let's get some rest."

Cyndaquil nodded and Cale made to leave. "Hold on."

Cale turned to see Ash glaring at him. "What you just did was dangerous and stupid!" Cale didn't reply. "You forced Cyndaquil to keep fighting, even when it was really hurt. A trainer is supposed to care first and foremost about this Pokémon's safety. You totally disregarded that!"

Cyndaquil stared up at him, with a smile on his face. Cale smiled back. "It worked. We won. That's all there is to it."

Ash shook his head. "You're no better than the trainer that hurt Cyndaquil before."

The words burned though him, and Cale forgot all about the little Pokémon in his arms. He marched towards Ash like a man possessed, and didn't even feel Cyndaquil leave his arms. Flames rose before him, and when Cale blinked, he saw Cyndaquil on the ground, his eyes fixed on Ash. The latter took a step back. "Huh?"

"I guess Cyndaquil disagrees with you Ash. Cyndaquil," he said to his friend. "Let's go. You deserve a break."

Cyndaquil followed Cale away.

As the group watched them go, Oak let out a small sigh. "Cale's a disgrace," Ash said, surrounded by the others. "I can't believe he told Cyndaquil to keep fighting, even after it'd been hit so many times."

"I was more surprised when Cyndaquil got up," Brock said.

Misty nodded. "Yeah, it looked even stronger than before."

"Maybe, but Cale made a huge mistake there, even if he did win the match." Ash crossed his arms as he stared at Cale's receding back.

"I'm not entirely sure about that Ash," Oak said. The group turned to him. "I think Cale cared more about Cyndaquil than you realize."

* * *

Cale stroked Cyndaquil's back as he rested besides him. A few hours had passed since the battle, and Cyndaquil seemed fine. He looked up at the sky; the endless blue and wispy clouds and smiled. What Ash said didn't bother him. He knew he'd done the right thing. "That was really good," he said to Cyndaquil. _Ugh, that's the best I could come up with?_

"Cynda." The Pokémon patted his leg, as if to tell him it was alright.

"We'd be a team to be reckoned with," Cale said idly. _That's if we entered one of those league things._ He hadn't even considered that until now.

"Cale?"

He recognized the voice and saw Ash in the door. He frowned. "What?"

"I just wanted to say, I'm sorry for what I said earlier. I didn't realize what you were trying to do."

Cale scratched Cyndaquil's head. "What was it I was trying to do?"

"You were trying give Cyndaquil confidence. You didn't care about the match, you just wanted Cyndaquil to feel good about itself."

"Himself," Cale said.

"Huh?"

"Cyndaquil's a male, not an it."

"Right," Ash said, rubbing the back of his head. "Sorry."

"Is that it?" Cale asked.

Ash nodded. "Yeah. I'm going to go see what the others are doing." He turned to leave. "Oh, and Cale?"

"What?"

"You should definitely enter the Pokémon league. You and Cyndaquil would make a great team." Ash left them to their thoughts.

* * *

"Here." Delia handed Cale a bundle of clothes. An hour had passed since his brief talk with Ash, and Cale had returned to his room to find Delia waiting for him.

"What's this?"

"I hear you're going on a journey of your own. You didn't plan on wearing one of Ash's old shirts the whole time, did you? You are bigger and older than him, after all."

Cale stared at the clothes. "I guess I hadn't thought about it."

"Well I got you some jeans, a sweatshirt and a couple plain colored t's, along with some other essentials. Aside from the clothes, I got you a pack and a sleeping bag. You should have room for it all. Oh!" She jumped up in surprise. "I forgot, you'll need some money too. Can't buy supplies and food without that."

"Whoa, wait," Cale shouted. Delia blinked out of her rant. "You seriously bought me all these things? And you're giving me money? I'm sorry, I can't take it."

"But you have to. You've no money of your own, and no clothes of your own."

"I just, I don't understand. Why are you doing all this for me? I'm not your son. I'm some guy who washed up on shore two days ago."

For a minute, Delia didn't say anything. She just looked at him and smiled ever so slightly. "You needed our help," she finally said. "So I'm doing my part. Why does that seem so strange to you?"

"It just does." His thoughts drifted to the visions he'd had since awakening on the beach. It didn't seem like he'd had a very good youth. _But that can be different now, can't it? I don't want to be this way. I don't want to feel angry for no reason._

Delia sat down besides him. "I'm sorry for all you've gone through, Cale."

Cale laughed. "I can't even remember what I've gone through."

"Well, you've been through a lot regardless. I'm glad you came here, though."

Cyndaquil patted his leg again.

Delia chuckled. "I think Cyndaquil is happy you're here too."

Cale smiled faintly and patted his friend on the head. Then he turned towards Delia. "I don't belong here."

She shrugged. "Maybe you do, who knows? Maybe some great cosmic being put you in the wrong dimension in the first place."

Cale couldn't help but laugh. "Yeah, maybe."

Delia stood up and smiled down at him. "You're a good person Cale, despite how guarded you are. I think you'll make a great trainer. But do me a favor, if you need anything, when you're on the road, feel free to come here. I've got extra rooms."

_She means it._ "Thank you Delia," Cale said. "I will."

When she'd gone, Cale struggled with the clothes. His arm was still stiff from his wound, but he managed despite it. The clothes were far more comfortable than Ash's, if just as nondescript.

"I've been thinking Cyndaquil," he said as he examined himself in the bathroom mirror, "about this whole, league thing."

His Pokémon looked confused.

"We fought well today. We work well together."

"Cynda."

"I mean, we're going to need something to do while we're looking for Mew and Lugia, right?"

"Quil, Cyn." Cyndaquil nodded.

"Besides, I think I'd like to do it anyway. What do you think?"

Cyndaquil smirked. Cale returned it.

"That's what I was hoping for."

* * *

"So Cale, have you decided what you're going to do?" Brock asked.

The group had seated themselves around the kitchen table for dinner and to discuss Cale's journey. The new trainer shrugged. "I'm going to look for Lugia and Mew. I want to know why I'm here, but while I'm at it, I'm going to go for gym badges."

"Awesome," Ash said. "So does that mean you're heading towards Viridian City?"

"I guess. Can I get a badge there?"

"It depends," Misty said. "Last I heard, the temporary leader was still Agatha, but she's been running it for a while now. She may have gone back to her position in the Elite Four. If that's the case, you may need to head to Pewter City."

"My family runs the gym there," Brock said proudly.

"Guess I'll be heading for Viridian then." Cale leaned back in his seat and smiled to himself. _I probably didn't see myself doing this three days ago_.

Oak gave him six Pokeballs and a Pokedex, and explained the functions of each. Cale thanked him and flipped through a few entries of the Pokedex.

"So I guess we'll leave early tomorrow?" Ash asked.

Cale took his eyes of the little encyclopedia. "What do you mean us?"

"Well, I'm going to stay in Kanto for a while, training, so I may as well go with you."

"And I need to get back to Cerulean City," Misty said.

Brock nodded. "And I'd like to visit my family in Pewter City too. I can't wait to see how my brother is doing."

Cale felt uneasy. He'd planned on being alone, with Cyndaquil as his only companion. Suddenly, the group had just jumped from two to five. "Shouldn't I be doing this on my own?"

"I'm only going so far as Pewter or Cerulean," Ash said, his hands up defensively. "It shouldn't take long, and you should be able to make it on your own after that."

"Fine." Cale stood. "I'm going to bed then. I plan on leaving pretty early."

* * *

Cale and Cyndaquil crept out of the lab and down the stone walkway to the street. "Cynda?" The little Pokémon had been anxious when Cale woke him early and beckoned him to follow close.

"I just wouldn't feel comfortable with them around Cyndaquil," Cale told him. "I don't know why." _I don't trust them. That's why. But I don't know why I don't trust them to begin with._ Thoughts like those made his head hurt.

When they reached the front gate, Cale stretched and looked around. "Okay, we need to find that convenience store so I can get another map."

"Going somewhere?"

Cale groaned and turned around to find Ash, Pikachu on his shoulder. "Look Ash," Cale said. "Thanks for saving me. Really, thanks. But I think it's time I left."

"You were just going to leave without saying goodbye?"

"That was the plan," Cale said with a shrug.

"Do you even know how to get to Viridian?"

"A map."

"There's a lot between here and there. Even with a map, you could get lost."

"Then I won't get lost."

"Cale," Ash pleaded. "You don't know what you're doing. You're new to everything here. You can't assume you'll be alright if you just take off." Cale didn't reply. "Just let us come with you. For a little bit. Then we'll leave you alone. I just don't want to let you wander off into the woods."

Cale didn't want to believe Ash. He wanted to just shrug his shoulders, and leave. He wanted to find Lugia and Mew and get the badges and he didn't want to have these people around because he didn't trust them but he didn't know why and instead he just said, "Fine." He'd only been awake for a few minutes, and he was tired already.

_I don't want to be this way. I really don't._ "But if I decide to split off from the group in the future," he warned, "don't try and stop me."

"Alright," Ash said with a nod. "Now let's go get some breakfast."

So they did, and a few hours later, Cale, Cyndaquil, Ash, Pikachu, Brock and Misty left Oak's lab fully fed and took off on another adventure.

* * *

"_He should not be here yet."_

"_The options were limited."_

"_He knows too little."_

"_He will learn. There is something different about this one. The Gift may bloom in him sooner than expected."_

"_And what will he do with it?"_

"_He has a good heart. And he could not have been allowed to die."_

"_He will need to show progress soon. They will not wait for him to become the champion you hope he can be."_

"_I know. For now, we watch and wait."_


	2. Chapter 2

_Rain on a window. A car's window. I'm in a car. I'm being driven to my death. The city lights race by me. I don't notice. "It didn't have to come to this." Someone is talking. I hear a loud honk._

Chapter 2: Boundaries

Cale's eyes opened. The stars were above him. The leaves and branches of the tree he sat in still surrounded him. He was still in Kanto.

As he rubbed his eyes, he tried to remember what he could of the vision. Sometimes they could all jumble together.

"Cyn?" Cale looked down at Cyndaquil. The little Pokémon stared at him.

"Another one."

"Quil Cynda?" _Another vision?_

Cale nodded. He'd told Cyndaquil of his visions after they'd left Pallet Town. "I was in a car, and someone was talking to-" He stopped. "Did I just understand you?"

"Cyndaquil?"

"Guess not."

"Hey Cale!" Ash waved to him from the foot of the tree. "C'mon, it's dinnertime."

He jumped off the branch and landed besides Ash. Cyndaquil came down a moment later. "Let's go."

The group had set up camp a few miles from Viridian City. It had gotten dark early, and Brock had suggested they make camp for the night.

Despite his visions, Cale's journey had been uneventful. Ash and the others had pointed out several wild Pokémon to him over the trip, but Cale had no interest in them.

Cale was more concerned with his visions. He spent his time lost in thought, even with Cyndaquil by his side. As he sat and ate, he thought of the vision he'd just received. _I was being drive to my death_. It felt odd, to remember that. "Cale?"

He turned to Misty. "Yeah?"

"Did you hear me?"

"Oh." He shook his head. "No, sorry."

"You okay?" Brock asked. "You've barely said anything all day."

"I'm fine." Cale set his empty plate down. "What did you say?"

"I asked if you thought you were ready for your possible gym battle tomorrow. I mean, you only have one Pokémon." Misty looked concerned. "Most gym battles comprise of two or three Pokémon battling another set."

"Yeah," Ash said. "Even if the gym is open, I don't know if you'll be able to battle. Why didn't you catch any of the Pokémon we saw today?"

Cale shrugged. "I didn't feel like it, I guess."

"Why?"

"No real reason."

"C'mon, do you really expect us to buy that?" Ash smirked that insufferable smile. "What's the real reason?"

"There isn't one."

"If there wasn't a reason, why didn't you catch any of them?"

"Drop it Ash," Cale said.

Ash started to say something, but Brock held up his hand. "If he doesn't want to talk about it, he doesn't have to."

"Yeah," Misty said. "Can't we eat in peace?"

"Fine." Ash crossed his arms. The rest of them ate in silence.

After dinner, Cale went back to the tree from before. _Nice going, Cale._ He didn't want to be angry with them. There wasn't any reason why he couldn't have answered Ash's questions. Yet, the moment Ash had started to press the issue, Cale had clammed up. _I'm sick of being like this._

"Cyn?" Cale looked at his friend.

"What's up Cyndaquil?"

"Cyndaquil, Cynda. Quil Cyn."

"Wondering why I didn't catch any Pokémon?" Cyndaquil nodded. Cale shrugged. "I guess it didn't feel right." Cyndaquil didn't seem to understand. "I didn't feel anything when I saw them. When I met you, I felt a connection, a bond."

Cyndaquil smiled at him, sadly. For a moment, Cale focused on Cyndaquil's scars. _If I ever find who did that to you…_ "But none of the Pokémon I saw today had anything along the lines of that. How am I supposed to train a Pokémon when I don't feel anything towards it in the very beginning?"

"_Maybe a bond comes later?"_ Cyndaquil asked.

"Yeah, maybe. Still, I'd find it strange-" He looked back at Cyndaquil. "Okay, I know I understood you that time."

"Cynda?"

"I could understand what you were saying. Your words were the same as always, but they made sense to me. Completely."

"Cyndaquil?"

Cale stared at his Pokémon for a few moments. "It isn't working now."

"Hey, Cale?" He turned to find Brock staring up at him. "We're all going to bed."

"Alright, I'm coming." He scratched Cyndaquil behind the ears. "C'mon, we'll figure this out tomorrow."

* * *

_Fire. Fire everywhere! Smoke! I can't stop coughing, I can't breathe. I hear a scream._

Something slammed into his side. His eyes opened and he grabbed his ribs. They felt bruised. A worried Cyndaquil stared up at him. He'd used Tackle.

"Why'd you do that?"

"_You scared me!"_

"So you attacked me? What was it that –" He stopped. "It happened again."

"Cyndaquil?" No, he didn't understand that.

"Cale?" The others were sitting up in their sleeping bags, staring at him. They looked groggy. The sun hadn't risen yet. "Are you okay?" Ash asked.

"What'd you mean?"

"You were coughing like crazy," Misty said.

Brock nodded. "You looked like you couldn't breathe."

_The fire's smoke._ "I dreamt I was in a fire."

The others sighed. "Well," Brock said, "it was just a dream."

_No, it was a vision. Another one._ "Yeah." Cyndaquil kept his distance from him. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you."

Cyndaquil patted Cale on the leg. "Cynda."

Everyone lay back down, though it took Cale some time to fall asleep.

Ash pointed. "There it is, Viridian City!"

Cale had gotten some sleep after the coughing incident. Thankfully, he'd received no visions.

The group had eaten breakfast and been on their way. Cale appreciated the silence of the walk. He needed to figure things out.

His latest vision frightened him, but his ability to understand Cyndaquil concerned him more. Ash had said something about being able to understand Pikachu, but he didn't think this was the same.

If he really could understand Cyndaquil, what did that mean? _Am I special somehow? _He didn't think so, but he couldn't come up with an explanation.

"Are you sure you're ready?" Cale looked up and found Brock staring at him. Ash and Misty had moved on a bit.

"For what?"

"The gym."

Cale wasn't. He knew it the second he gave it a thought. _I beat Ash, once. That's it._ From what he'd heard, gym battles were tough and followed strict rules. He hadn't even formally trained with Cyndaquil yet.

Of everyone in the group, Brock seemed the most capable at cutting to the issue, and picking up on things. Without saying anything, he nodded. "We should spend a day or so here anyway. The Viridian Forest can be a tough trip. It should give you some time to train with Cyndaquil."

Cyndaquil sat on Cale's shoulder and the two looked at each other. "Sorry Cyndaquil," Cale said. "I don't think we're ready." His friend smiled a bit.

"Cynda."

"C'mon," Brock said. "We'll show you around. There's plenty to see here anyway."

He liked Brock; much more than Ash or Misty. _I don't think 'like' is the right word._ He wanted to like him, he wanted to like everyone, but he didn't. No, he respected Brock. Cale could live with that.

Viridian City felt more like a large town than a city. _It's no New York_. He walked through the paved and polished streets surrounded by low-rises. Barely a car drove by.

It felt rustic, but still stuck out against the backdrops of the forests that surrounded it. To Cale, Viridian City seemed out of place.

Ash and his friends showed Cale around. They booked rooms at the Pokémon Cetner, took him to a Pokemart, and brought him to a dozen different stores with a dozen different purposes. His head spun by the morning's end.

After lunch, he excused himself from the table and stepped outside for some air. Cyndaquil remained perched on his shoulder. The air felt cleaner than he was used to. A hundred smells passed through his nose, but they lacked the undercurrent of garbage and decay he knew so well.

He walked down the street, past the trainers and shoppers and regular people. They didn't pay any attention to him. "It's funny," he said. "Here I am, someone from another dimension or world or whatever, and no one knows it."

"_Well, you do look like them,"_ Cyndaquil said.

"I can understand you again."

"Cyndaquil."

Cale smiled. He didn't understand what was happening to him, but he didn't care. At that moment, walking and talking with Cyndaquil just felt good.

He turned the corner and saw a building. A fountain, marble steps and pillars made an impressive terrace for a large, brownstone building. "Want to bet that's the gym?"

"Quil." They crossed the street.

Whoever maintained the outside did a good job. He saw no stains, or smudges, or anything on the steps or pillars. _This place takes itself seriously._ Maybe they had good reason to. At the top of the steps, two large, solid oak doors greeted him. He pushed them open.

A splinter of light spilled into the huge dark room. Low-turned lights hung from the ceiling, and as Cale stepped inside and shut the door, he had to wait for his eyes to adjust.

He saw smooth white lines painted onto the floor, marking a large square section. "Must be where they fight." His voice echoed through the gym. The space, the darkness, the silence; it all felt so ominous. The building itself seemed to be set against him. He stepped back from the ring.

The doors opened behind him. He retreated into the shadows as the light stung his eyes. _I just can't seem to win._

Someone walked towards the ring. Someone small. When his eyes recovered, he saw a kid. "Bradley," the boy shouted. "I challenge you!"

"Are you sure?" A voice asked. Cale blinked. It came from the other side of the gym. _Was someone there the whole time_?

"I'm sure." He looked younger than Ash.

"Very well."

The lights rose and Cale saw the whole room. A man stood across the ring from the boy. He looked a bit older than Cale, but with darker skin and brown, shoulder length hair. At a distance, Cale couldn't make out much more.

"We'll have a one on one battle. No time limit. You win, you get the badge." The kid nodded enthusiastically. "Before we begin," Bradley said. "I want to ask you something."

"What?"

"Why do you battle?"

"Huh?"

"It's a simple question. Why do you battle your Pokémon?"

The kid straightened and beamed. "Because, I want to become a Pokémon Master." He said it as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

Bradley nodded. "I thought so. Let's begin."

Their fight didn't last long. Thirty seconds in fact.

Bradlye's Arcanine demolished the boy's Pokémon.

Once they finished, Bradley recalled his Pokémon and crossed the ring to the boy's side. "If you're going to become a Pokémon Master, you need to reevaluate why you battle."

The boy didn't seem to hear him, and gave him a noncommittal shrug before walking out. Cale watched him go. When the doors shut, Bradley turned to him. "Are you here to challenge me too?"

Cale was taken aback. He thought he'd escaped Bradley's notice. _Did he know the whole time I was in here?_ He remembered the echo of the door opening. _Probably_.

"Well?" Bradley asked.

Cyndaquil looked up at him from the ground. He shook his head. They'd both been watching the fight.

"No," Cale said. "We're not here to challenge you."

Bradley seemed to expect as much. "Why are you here then?"

"I wanted to see the inside of a gym."

"Do you battle for badges?"

"I plan to."

"Why?"

Cale didn't want to become a Pokémon Master. He found the definition of the position to be vague, at best. Why did he want to battle? _It's something to do?_

No, that wasn't right. "I don't know," he said.

"You're not clear on your reasons for fighting?"

He chuckled. "I'm not clear on a lot of things."

"Do you know why that boy lost?" Bradley asked.

Cale shrugged. "Because he sucked?"

The trainer frowned. "He lost because he didn't fight with his Pokémon. He used them to fulfill his desires."

"Isn't it against the rules to enter the ring and fight alongside your Pokémon?"

"Pokémon don't exist to fulfill our desires. We exist to fulfill theirs." Bradley turned and walked away. "You're welcome to stay until the evening when the gym closes. But I would suggest you discover your reason for fighting, before you continue to fight."

The lights dimmed and Bradley disappeared. "C'mon, Cyndaquil." The little Pokémon hopped onto his shoulder. "I'm starting to get the creeps."

* * *

Cale sat in the waiting room of the Pokémon Center. Cyndaquil sat before him, nibbling on some leftover food from dinner.

"Why do I fight?" Cale asked. "The hell am I doing any of this for?" Kanto, or whatever this world was called, wasn't his. He'd come from someplace else, and it felt strange to think of himself doing anything of value over here. _Shouldn't I be trying to get back?_

No, he didn't want to go back. Not if his visions were any indication. Besides, he was apparently dead over there.

_Then what am I looking for Mew for?_ His head hurt.

"_You okay?"_ Cyndaquil asked.

Cale shrugged. "I don't know. I don't know a lot of things, looks like."

"_What things?"_

"Why I'm here, what I'm doing, everything." He looked down at his friend, no longer concerned at being able to understand him. "I just feel like everything is pulling at me in a thousand different directions, and I can't move at all.

Cyndaquil frowned and reached out and patted his hand. _"We'll figure it out."_

Cale smiled. "Thanks. By the way, I can understand you completely now."

Cyndaquil shrugged. _"Must be one of those things."_

He looked back out the window at the setting sun. "Guess so."

* * *

"_That was not supposed to happen."_

"_No, it was not, but that does not change the fact that it did."_

"_The Gift was not meant to blossom so fast."_

"_The Portal may have caused a reaction."_

"_He is also old enough."_

"_Then we need to shift our attention to him. The other will learn it soon enough."_


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Thanks to everyone reading this. Please check out my website at for more of my original stuff.

Chapter 3: Amicitia

Cale's eyes opened. The sun shone into the sleeping quarters of the Pokémon center.

The others were asleep. Cyndaquil snored softly at the foot of Cale's bunk. He rose slowly, dressed quietly, and left the room.

Dull yellow halls and polished floors greeted him. _Joy must be anal about keeping this place clean._ He smiled.

Before long, he found himself in the empty cafeteria. Food had already been laid out for the trainers, and he helped himself to some toast and juice. Cale sat in a booth by the window and stared out at the streets of Viridian.

"Good morning."

He looked and saw Nurse Joy. She approached him in her uniform, a coffee cup clenched in her hands. "Hi," he said.

"You're up early. Are the others still asleep?"

Cale shrugged. "Yeah, I guess they're tired."

Joy nodded and sat down opposite him. "Mind if I sit with you?"

The worm in his gut started to squirm. Cale felt his defenses rising. _C'mon, she's being friendly._ "It's fine," he said.

They sat in silence for a time. Cale munched his toast, and Joy sipped her coffee. "So," Joy finally asked, "are you going for gym badges?"

He thought back to Bradley's words from the day before. _I would suggest you discover your reason for fighting, before you continue to fight._ "That's right."

"Did you challenge Bradley?"

Cale shook his head. "I wasn't ready."

"Does that mean you'll be heading towards Pewter City? It's the next closest gym."

_Why does she keep asking me questions?_ "Yeah, that's the plan." He said it more stormily than he intended.

"I'm sorry," Joy said. She stood.

"Huh?"

"If I'm annoying you, I can leave. I'm sure you'd like to be alone with your thoughts."

Cale stood and motioned for her to sit back down. "No, I'm sorry, it's just…" _Just what? I don't trust other people for some reason? And no, I don't know the reason, because I have no memories?_ "When I'm around other people, I don't… you see, I don't really have an easy time of…"

"You have a tough time opening up and trusting people?" Joy asked, a small smile on her face.

Cale blinked. "Uh, yeah."

She sat back down. "There must be some reason why you don't trust people." She held up her hand when Cale opened his mouth. "But it's none of my business. But if you're afraid that people will hurt you, don't be."

_Don't be?_ "I'm not sure I get it."

"You shouldn't be afraid of people hurting you, because they will hurt you."

Cale didn't say anything. He stared at her smile and wondered if he should leave. "This is quite a pep talk."

Joy's smile widened. "You see, people will always hurt you. No matter where you go or what you do, but not everybody will. Just because someone hurts you and will, doesn't mean other people will."

"So just because someone's a jerk doesn't mean all people are jerks?"

"Exactly." Joy took another sip. "Part of opening up to someone is taking the risk that they could hurt you, but you'll never have a real relationship, a real bond, if you don't do that first."

Cale thought of Cyndaquil. _There's a bond there._ Then he thought of the others. Of Ash, and Brock, and Misty. When it came down to it, he didn't trust them.

They'd done nothing to him, but he didn't trust them. It was this sickly feeling that crawled around in his stomach; some itch that warned him away from everyone. He hated it. _I don't want to be this way. But why can't I change?_

"Are you okay?" Joy asked.

"Fine," Cale mumbled. "But where I come from, I think, people generally hurt you."

"Well, I don't know where you're from. But here, it's different."

_Here, it's different_. True, the world he'd been thrust into seemed remarkably perpendicular to how he felt the world should be. Maybe this place was different.

_How hard is it to be better than where I came from?_ His visions had only shown him beatings, a fire, and gunfire.

The two finished their meals and bid goodbye, Joy's more cheerfully than Cale's. He returned to his room and found the others still asleep.

"_Cale?"_

He nearly jumped before he recognized it as Cyndaquil's. "Keep your voice down, the others are still asleep." There'd been no real shock of learning he could understand his Pokémon. Rather, it felt natural. Still, he hadn't told anyone else of the ability.

"_Did you go somewhere?"_

"I was out, walking around."

"_Why didn't you get me?"_

"Because this was a while ago, and you were still asleep. Besides, nothing happened. I just had juice with Nurse Joy."

Cyndaquil's eyebrows went up and he smiled. _"Oh, really?"_

"Give me a break. She's like six years older than me. Although that didn't seem to stop Brock yesterday."

Cyndaquil giggled for a moment. _"Is something wrong?"_

"What'd you mean?"

"_You look like something's bothering you."_

Ash had told him Pokémon could sense their trainer's feelings. "Joy was talking about my lack of trust in people."

"_Lack of trust? You didn't tell her about what happened to you in your world, did you?"_ Cale had informed Cyndaquil of the whole, "other dimension thing" the day before.

"No, but I made it clear that people where I'm from couldn't be trusted."

"_What'd she say?"_

"Basically, that if I didn't open up to people I'd be alone my whole life."

"_That's not true. You've got me."_

"I think she meant human-wise."

"_Oh."_ Cyndaquil looked at the others. _"You still don't trust them, do you?"_

"Look," Cale said. "I don't really want to talk about this anymore, okay?"

Cyndaquil nodded. _"Okay, but if you want to, I'm here."_

"Thanks." Cale lay back down and closed his eyes. He tried to recapture the peaceful feeling he'd felt earlier. It didn't work.

* * *

Once everyone else had eaten, the group left the Center and headed into the forest.

Three hours later, they trudged on through the dense, silent trees. "Correct me if I'm wrong Ash," Cale said. "But didn't you say this place had lots of Pokémon?"

Ash had. Ash had promised Cale they'd seen dozens of Pokémon in Viridian Forest. So far, they'd seen none. "It does," Ash said. "I don't understand where they could all be."

Brock stopped walking. "This is strange. Beyond the lack of Pokémon, has anyone else noticed how quiet it's been since we came in?" Everyone was quick to agree. "Something's wrong."

"What?" Cale asked.

Before Brock could speak, a scream split the air.

Ash spun around. "What was that?"

Cale suppressed the urge to say, "A scream." He looked around, but all he could see were trees. "Over there!" Misty pointed down the path they'd been following.

A girl appeared over the crest of a small hill. She sprinted towards them, waving her arms frantically. A moment later, ten large bees with huge needles for arms appeared behind her.

"Beedrill," Ash said. Misty shrieked.

"And they're going after that girl," Brock yelled.

_Giant bees? Sounds like a monster movie_. Cale pulled out his PokeDex and read the entry. His eyes lingered on the "poisonous stingers" part.

He looked up and found the girl nearly on top of them. "Help!"

"Pikachu!"

"Cyndaquil!"

Both Pokémon leapt from their trainers' shoulders to block the path of the Beedrill.

"Thunderbolt!"

"Ember!"

Pikachu and Cyndaquil fired off their attacks into the mass of Pokémon. Those that were wounded veered off. In an instant, another dozen Beedrill appeared from the trees.

"Shit," Cale said. "Ember again!" Cyndaquil fired again, and a few more Beedrill peeled off. Then Cale felt someone pulling him.

"C'mon." It was the girl. "You can't win against that many."

"I-" Cale started. Brock grabbed him as well.

"Everyone run," he cried.

Cyndaquil jumped back onto Cale's shoulder and everyone ran. The Beedrill followed. "Split up," Ash shouted. "Maybe it'll throw them off."

Cale shot to his right and darted through some trees. Without looking back he asked Cyndaquil, "Who came with us?"

"_Just that girl. And a whole lot of Beedrill!"_

"Fantastic."

"Keep going," he heard the girl shout.

They ran for a minute more, leaping over tree roots and darting between the forest's vegetation.

"_Stop,"_ Cyndaquil said.

"Like Hell," Cale replied. "What for?"

"_Just stop!"_ Cale stopped. The girl ran for a few paces more than turned around.

"We've got to keep going," she called.

"What're you doing, Cyndaquil?"

In reply, Cyndaquil let out a powerful cry and spewed a thick stream of smoke from his mouth. The cloud engulfed the Beedrill, whose buzzing stopped for a second. _"Let's go,"_ Cyndaquil said.

They both ran after the girl.

Cale wasn't sure how long they kept going, but after a while, he stopped hearing the buzzing. "I think we can stop now." They slowed and stopped.

He leaned against a tree to catch his breath, with Cyndaquil patting his head. "What was that, Cyndaquil?"

"_Smokescreen."_ Cyndaquil wore a big smile. _"Not bad, right?"_

"I'll say. That'll come in handy in the future."

"_What would you do without me?"_ Cale smiled. He knew the deeper meaning behind the rhetorical question.

"I don't know."

He looked up and saw the girl. Her eyes were wide. "You can understand your Pokémon?"

"Uh-"

"That's so cool," she said with a giant grin. "I wish I could understand my Pokémon, how'd you do it?"

"It just sort of happened, I guess." _What am I doing?_ He hadn't even told the others he could understand Cyndaquil, and now he was telling a complete stranger. The worm inside him squirmed. "What's your name?"

"Oh sorry, I'm Melanie." When Cale looked, he guessed she was around his age. She stood with her emerald eyes level at him. Her shoulder length brown hair had a solid streak of blue through a few strands. The rest of her was blue as well. Blue jeans, blue shirt, a blue necklace. The only things not blue on her were her stark white jacket, and her black backpack.

"I'm Cale," he said. "This is Cyndaquil."

"Nice to meet you both."

"_I like her,"_ Cyndaquil said. He hopped off Cale's shoulder and stretched.

"Huh?" Melanie asked.

"He said he likes you."

"Awww!" She bent down and scooped Cyndaquil up into a hug. "I like you too."

"_Tell her I can't breathe!"_

Cale laughed and Melanie set him down. "Thanks for saving me by the way. I would've been dead meat if those Beedrill had caught me."

"Don't worry about it," Cale said. He looked around at the forest, trying to figure out where they were.

"Cyndaquil and that other boy's Pikachu are really strong. You two must've trained together for a long time."

"Actually, we only met a few days ago."

"Really?" You must be an amazing trainer."

"Not really," Cale said. "I only started right after I met Cyndaquil. He's the only Pokémon with me."

"But you're so old." Cale looked at her. "Well, not old, old, but most trainers start when they're ten. You look like you're around my age."

"Well, there were some extenuating circumstances." Cale stopped talking before telling her that the circumstance was being from another dimension. The worm squirmed away, and he felt his defenses rising. _Again?_ "Why were those Beedrill chasing you?"

Melanie plopped down on a tree stump and propped her head in her hands. "I'm not sure. I was minding my own business, just heading through the forest, when I saw a Caterpie rush past me." Cale had seen some Caterpies at Oak's lab. "So I tried to catch it, but before I could do anything, a Beedrill swooped down and blocked me. Another grabbed the Caterpie and flew away, and that's when the others started swarming me. I had no idea where I was going, and then I ran into you."

"So that's weird, right?"

"Stuff like this isn't supposed to happen," Melanie said. "Trainers come into this forest all the time. There are lots of low-level bug Pokémon here, so they're pretty easy to catch. The Beedrill are dangerous, sure, but they're usually scattered around in small hives. I don't understand it."

"Neither do I," Cale said. "Got a theory, Cyndaquil?" His friend shrugged.

They had no idea where they were. Cale assumed Ash, Brock and Misty were together and back in the general direction they'd come from. However, the Beedrill probably were too.

It was only a bit past noon, so they had plenty of light to search, but not much cover. Cale groaned. He didn't trust the others, but he knew he couldn't leave them behind. "I've got to go look for them," he said. He turned to Melanie. "You don't have to come."

She shook her head and stood. "No way, you friends helped me out too. I'm not leaving without saying thanks."

Cale smiled. "Well, we ran here from that direction." He pointed between two rotted out trees. "I guess we should head back in that direction."

"I've got an idea!" Melanie reached into her bag and pulled free a Pokeball. She tossed it into the air, and a red, black, and brown Pokémon emerged, spread its wings, and gave a cry. It fluttered to the ground before her. Melanie knelt to its level. "Spearow," she said. "There are some people in the woods we're trying to find. Two guys, a girl, and a Pikachu. Could you look for them from the air?"

Spearow cawed and shot off into the sky.

"Spearow is pretty fast," Melanie said to Cale. "I'm sure she'll be able to outrun any Beedrill that try and chase her."

Cale nodded. Cyndaquil hopped onto his shoulder, and they started back down the path they came from. Melanie followed close behind.

"_Are you sure it's a good idea to head back towards the Pokémon that were just trying to kill us?"_ Cyndaquil asked.

"Much as I would love to leave Ash to his fate," Cale said. "We can't leave them behind. Besides, I sure as hell don't know how to get out of here."

Melanie sped up to walk beside them. "So were you guys heading towards Pewter City or Viridian?"

"Pewter," Cale said. "For a gym battle. We left Viridian this morning."

The girl brightened, seemingly excited out of her mind. "Cool! I just came from Pewter's gym. Check it out!" She opened her jacket to reveal two badges pinned neatly aside one another. One was a grey octagon, the other was shaped like a raindrop.

"What are those?"

"What are these?" She emphasized nearly every syllable. "There are gym badges! They prove I've beaten two gym leaders so far. Pewter City and Cerulean City!"

"Oh," Cale said. "I guess that means you're a trainer too?"

Melanie nodded with a proud smile. "That's right. I've already got four Pokémon and two badges. I'm on a roll."

"Wait," Cale said, slowing. "If people start Pokémon training at ten, wouldn't that mean you're old for it too?"

Her eyes glazed over and she nodded. "Yeah. I wanted to start when I was ten, but I had some extenuating circumstances myself."

Cale shut his mouth, willing to let the matter drop.

To his surprise, Melanie continued. "You see, I wanted to be a Pokémon trainer ever since I was little. I used to love watching battles on television and reading books on them and writing stories about them." She started to smile.

"I used to go to the gym in Cerulean, that's where I'm from, and watch the former leaders show off their Pokémon. They stunk as battlers, but as a kid, I thought they were great." Her smiled faded. "Then, a week before I was about to turn ten, my dad died in a car accident."

_Holy shit._ "I'm sorry," Cale said.

"My mom got depressed. My little sister had just been born, and with no one to provide for us, my mom had to get a second job. When I came home from school, my mom would be at work, so I had to watch my sister. My birthday came and went, but I couldn't leave."

"You and your sister must've gotten close, though."

Melanie nodded. "We did. It's been a tough couple of years, but I never gave up on my dream." Suddenly, she smiled wide. "I guess my mom knew that, because after my sister turned nine a few months ago, my mom started teasing me about my eighteenth birthday present. Three months ago, she just handed me a Pokeball with my first Pokémon in it. Then she said I could go."

"So I guess you're a beginner too, huh?"

She laughed. "Guess so. Like I said, I just won at the Pewter City gym, so I was heading towards Viridian for another battle."

Cale shook his head. "Forget about Viridian. I just came from there and the gym is closed."

"Are you serious?" Cale nodded. "Just great," she groaned. "I spend four hours looking over a map, finally decide on a place, and get chased by a pack of crazy Beedrill, for absolutely nothing." Cale couldn't help but chuckle. Cyndaquil couldn't either.

The worm inside him had quieted down. He only noticed it in the back of his mind. Something about her relaxed him. Maybe it was her age, or her similar status as a trainer, but Cale felt a distant camaraderie with her. For once, he didn't mind having another human around.

A Beedrill dropped from the tree and smacked the ground. The two trainers jumped and backed up. Cyndaquil leapt from Cale's shoulder and fired up the flames on his back. _"Just say the word!"_

The Beedrill looked hurt. Scorch marks dotted its chest and stinger. Its right eye oozed pus. They knew it was alive only by its attempts to rise. "It's pretty beat up," Cale said.

Melanie began to rummage through her backpack. "It looks terrible. It must've been in a terrible fight." She pulled a large green spray bottle and approached the fallen Pokémon.

"What are you doing?"

"This is some Super Potion," Melanie said, holding up the bottle. "I'm giving some to Beedrill."

Before Cale could say more, Melanie knelt beside the Pokémon. "Just relax, Beedrill." As she brought the bottle closer to the wounds, Beedrill recoiled and crawled backwards. "It's alright," she said. "I'm just trying to help you."

"_It's true,"_ Cyndaquil said. _"She just wants to help."_

The Beedrill hesitated. Suddenly, six Beedrill rushed over the tops of the trees and dived at Melanie.

Cale ran forward, grabbed Melanie around the waist, and pulled her away. Cyndaquil fired a small Ember, but it sailed past the incoming Pokémon. Their stingers stuck in the ground where Melanie had knelt.

The two humans rose as the Beedrill formed a wall between them and the injured Pokémon.

One of the Beedrill began to click wildly. Two others broke off, lifted the hurt Beedrill and flew off.

"What're they saying, Cyndaquil?" Cale asked.

"_That one ordered the other two to take the injured one back to the tree."_

"The tree?"

Cyndaquil nodded. _"Their home or something."_

"We're just trying to help," Melanie called after the retreating Beedrill. "We weren't going to hurt it."

The Beedrill clicked again.

"_They don't believe us."_

"There's only four of them. Cyndaquil and I can take them. Head back the way we came, we'll catch up with you."

Melanie smiled. "I'm not running this time." She reached into her bag and pulled out a Pokeball. "I do have two badges, you know."

Cale nodded and Melanie tossed the Pokeball. "Go, Ekans!" The device opened and a large purple snake materialized alongside Cyndaquil.

"Ready?" Melanie asked.

"Ready," Cale said.

The Beedrill flew forward in a loose formation, their needles up and ready.

"Cyndaquil, Ember. And spread it out." Cyndaquil opened his mouth and spit forth a volley of small embers at the incoming attackers.

"Ekans, Headbutt the Beedrill on the far left." Her snake leapt forward and smashed itself against the target, sending the Beedrill sailing backwards into a tree. "Good, no Poisonsting on the one behind you!"

Ekans did as told, and its poisoned needles pierced the second Beedrill's skin. It crumpled.

"Spread out Ember again, Cyndaquil." More burning bits flew into the enemy Pokémon. "Now Tackle one of them!" Cyndaquil dashed forward and slammed into one, sending it to the ground.

One Beedrill remained in the air, and it dove straight at Cyndaquil. "Leer," Cale said. Cyndaquil's glare distracted the Beedrill for just a second. "Now full power Ember!" The attacker fell, and lay motionless.

It rose, along with the other Beedrill a moment later, and flew away into the trees.

Cyndaquil smiled up at Cale. _"Nice!"_

Melanie's Ekans shook its tail proudly.

"Good job you guys," Melanie said.

Cale knelt so Cyndaquil could run back up his shoulder. "This is getting out of hand. I wouldn't mind getting out of here as quickly as possible."

"Spearow," Melanie said, and pointed to the sky. Cale looked and saw the bird circling them, a bit higher than the trees. "Did you find them?" Melanie called up to it.

"Spear," it replied, and flew off in the direction they'd been heading.

"I think she knows where the others are." Melanie grabbed Cale's arm and pulled him forward. "Let's go."

They walked for a time, before Melanie said, "Ekans was my first Pokémon, you know."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah." She laughed. "I sure was surprised when he came out of his Pokeball. But I love him so much. He's so cool."

Before they could speak more, they entered a clearing. On the other side of the field stood Ash, Brock, Misty and Pikachu. The groups waved at each other.

"Good to see you're alright," Ash said. Misty seemed relieved, and Brock seemed infatuated.

He shot past Cale and grabbed Melanie's hands. "You're safe, thank goodness I was so worried. My name's Brock, and let me say that I've spent my whole life searching for the one person who could steal my heart away, and it seems you've-" Misty grabbed his ear and dragged him backwards, leaving Melanie looking confused.

"C'mon Brock," Misty said. "I think she'd rather be with the Beedrill now than you."

"Not the ear!"

"What's with that guy?" Melanie asked.

"He always does that," Ash said.

"Guys," Cale said. "This is Melanie."

"Melanie! What beauty! What – Ah!"

"Quiet Brock, before I grab you by the tongue."

"Okay, okay."

"So what happened to you guys?" Cale asked.

"We came this way," Ash said. "We fought off a few Beedrill and outran the rest. We've been looking for you since. Do you know what's going on? This seems like more than just a bunch of territorial Beedrill."

Cale and Melanie shrugged. "We tried to help an injured Beedrill," Melanie said. "But some of its friends came and carried it off deeper into the forest."

"Now what?" Misty asked.

Brock, who had calmed down, thought for a moment. "The best idea would be to get out of this forest as quickly as possible. But since we have no idea where we are, when we took off running, we could've gone towards or away from Viridian."

"Which means we can't go safely in any direction," Cale finished.

"Right."

"Spearow can find us a way out," Melanie said. "He could find us a way out."

"Spear!" The Pokémon sat perched on Melanie's shoulder.

Ash nodded. "That could work."

Brock crossed his arms. "Yeah, but we're pretty deep in the forest. It could take Spearow some time to find a way out, especially if the Beedrill have lookouts everywhere."

"What if Spearow looked for the Beedrill?" Cale asked.

"Huh?"

"What if Spearow flies high enough that she's out of danger and checks out all the Beedrill. Their locations, where they're heading, yada yada yada. Then maybe we could follow a path out. The forest doesn't go on forever."

"I get it," Melanie said. She turned to Spearow. "Think you can do that?"

Spearow cawed and took off.

"So now we wait?" Misty asked.

"Yup."

* * *

"_I don't like waiting like this,"_ Cyndaquil said.

"Neither do I," Cale said. "But we don't have much of a choice."

The two sat on the forest floor, leaned against a tree. The rest of the group meandered around the area, talking briefly before staring at the sky, searching for Spearow. The bird had been gone for an hour.

"She'll be back soon," Melanie said. "She's really smart."

"So what are you doing in the forest, Melanie?" Ash asked.

Melanie began to explain, but Misty cut her off. "Hey, I know you. You were at my gym a few weeks ago. You won a Cascade Badge."

Melanie nodded. "I remember you too, Misty. You're an awesome trainer."

Thank. Sorry I didn't recognize you sooner. Sometimes I get so many trainers knocking on my door I can't remember one from the other. Now that I think on it, you had a strong Ekans, right?"

"That's right, he's really helped me get my two badges."

"Two?"

Melanie opened her jacket, showing everyone the badges.

"A Boulder Badge," Brock said. "That must mean you beat my brother or father."

"That's right," Melanie said, after studying Brock's face. "I did beat a guy that looked like you. Must've been your dad."

"Small world," Brock said.

The conversation revolved around more small talk, which Cale sat and watched. Cyndaquil climbed up onto his shoulder. _"Why aren't you talking with the others?"_

Cale shrugged. "Haven't got much to say."

"_You could talk about yourself. That's what they're doing."_

"Hard to talk about yourself when you don't know anything about yourself."

"_Well, maybe you should at least pay attention."_ Cyndaquil smiled. _"Because then you'd realize Melanie is not only talking about you, but to you."_

"Huh?" Cale looked up. Everyone stared at him. "Sorry," he said. "Daydreaming."

Melanie smiled. "I was just telling them how I had to drag you away from fighting those Beedrill that chased us."

"Sorry about that," Cale mumbled.

"So where are you from, Cale?" Melanie asked.

"What?" Cale asked. His mind went blank. _Shit. Shit shit shit. Make something up._

"You know, where you're from? As in the place you were born?"

"Well, I-"

"He's from Pallet Town," Ash said. Cale looked at the boy, who gave him a nod. "But he was away for a while on a long trip."

"Was that the extenuating circumstance?" Melanie asked.

Cale put on the biggest smile he could and nodded. The conversation drifted into other topics.

Minutes later, a sharp, "Spear," came from above. They turned and saw Spearow swoop down and land in between them all. She began to chatter away.

"_She says there are tons of Beedrill and they're covering the whole area. She thinks she can lead us away from them, but it'll take us deeper into the forest,"_ Cyndaquil said. Cale told Melanie what Spearow had said, while Ash and the others looked on, confused.

"So we either head deeper into the forest, or get attacked by more Beedrill?" She asked. "Not the best options."

"It might not be such a bad idea," Brock said. "If they're looking for us, they'll think we'll try to head out."

"Guess that settles it," Cale said.

* * *

Spearow led them slowly through the forest. They moved quietly, doing their best to keep Spearow in sight. "You know," Brock said after an hour. "If we had some repellent, this probably wouldn't be such a problem."

"Great, now he realizes," Misty replied.

Spearow cawed from above and began to fly in a circle. Melanie squinted up at her. "I think she sees something."

"Cyndaquil?" Cale asked.

Cyndaquil cocked his head and listened to Spearow's calls. _"She says there's a bunch of Beedrill headed this way. We need to go."_

Cale started to jog. "Come on, the Beedrill are surrounding us." The others started up behind him.

They ran for a few minutes before they heard the sound of buzzing wings. As they covered more ground, the trees grew thicker, and soon they could barely see the sky. "Now what?" Misty asked. "I can't see Spearow."

"Spearow?" Melanie called.

Cale grabbed her shoulder and shook his head. "Don't, they'll hear you. Spearow will be fine, but we have to keep moving."

Blind, they ran from the sound of Beedrill. "Maybe we'll see a landmark or something," Ash said as they charged through the trees.

"Wait," Brock called, "I think I see daylight ahead."

Ahead, Cale could see the light too. He picked up his pace and ran into a clearing.

"Whoa," was all he said. No one else said anything. They stood on the edge of a valley, hidden by trees on all sides. Cale couldn't tell how large it was, but he could barely see the trees on the opposite end of it.

What he noticed the most though, were the Pokémon. Hundreds of Pokémon skittered around. Hundreds more hung from few scattered trees throughout the clearing.

"Look at all the bugs," Melanie said. Misty looked sick. "There must be thousands." Caterpie, Metapods, Weedles, Butterfree; the valley was littered with them.

"Over there," Ash pointed towards the valley's center.

Like a parent looking over its children, an enormous, thick tree stood. From its long branches hung dozens of Kakuna, tended to by a small number of Beedrill.

"So this is where all the Pokémon went?" Cale asked.

"I think so," Brock said. "This valley is huge, but it can't support all these Pokémon. They must've come from all over the forest."

Melanie nodded. "Or they were brought here."

"Huh?"

She turned to Cale. "Remember how I told you I tried to capture a Caterpie, and those Beedrill came and carried it off?" Cale nodded. "What if it was brought here?"

"I guess so," he said. "Do you think that big tree is the one the Beedrill were talking about?"

"_It is,"_ Cyndaquil said. His little paw was pointed to a mound next to the tree. _"That's that injured Beedrill."_

Cale's eyes weren't as good as Cyndaquil's, but he could definitely make out a Beedrill that looked wounded crumpled by the side of the tree. "You're right."

"Behind us," Brock said. They turned and saw masses of Beedrill emerging from the woods.

"We've got to run for it," Ash said and started to move. "We need to cut through the valley."

They burst from the trees and made a mad dash across the field, doing their best to outrun the Beedrill. Cale ran as hard as he could, but the Beedrill swarmed in, closing them off. Before he knew it, he was being directed towards the giant tree.

Seconds later, they stopped. They were surrounded by hordes of Beedrill. _There's way too many of them_. The buzzing of the Beedrill wings grew and grew. Something flashed in his eyes.

_They're everywhere. I can't hear. All these people, they've surrounded me. I can't stop them. They won't stop. They won't stop. Shut up. Shut up!_

"Shut up," Cale screamed as he dropped to his knees, his head clutched in pain. "Shut up!"

"Cale?" He heard Melanie ask.

Cale squeezed his eyes shut until the voices gave way to the beating of Beedrill wings.

"_Are you okay?"_ Cyndaquil asked. _"What's wrong?"_ Cale waved his friend away and stood up. The pain in his head faded.

He turned to Melanie. "Sorry." He shook his head clear. He didn't have time to worry about the latest vision.

The Beedrill descended and relaxed. "What's going on?" Ash asked. "Are they not going to attack us?"

A large Beedrill lowered itself from one of the tree's branches. To Cale, it looked at least five feet tall, and it towered over the other Pokémon. "I think that's their leader." The large Beedrill sliced one of its arms through the air, and the buzzing of wings ceased. "Yep, definitely the leader."

It started to click and gesture wildly at the group of humans. _"He wants to know what we're doing here,"_ Cyndaquil said.

Cale took a step forward. _This is a bad idea._ "We were just passing through. We didn't mean any harm."

More clicking. _"He wants to know if you intended to catch any of the Pokémon here."_

"Hey Cale," he heard Ash say. "Can you understand Cyndaquil?" Cale didn't pay any attention.

Instead, to the Beedrill, he said, "Uh… yeah?"

The surrounding Pokémon erupted into furious clicking, until another swing of the leader's needle silenced them. _Well shit, that was the wrong answer._

The leader began to click at a rapid pace. For near a minute he ranted, and when he finished, Cyndaquil looked particularly disgruntled. _"He says that the Pokémon taken from here are generally captured by beginners. He believes they aren't trainer properly or used to their fullest potential. So he united the other Beedrill hives to protect the other Pokémon."_

Cyndaquil gestured to the valley. _"This place has never had another human in it, so the Beedrill brought all the Pokémon of the forest here. Then they sent out warriors to attack any humans who entered the forest. He says he'll keep this up until humans learn to stay away."_

The Beedrill clicked one more sentence. _"Perhaps when enough human young have been taken away by the forest, other humans will know the pain the forest has felt,"_ Cyndaquil translated.

Cale turned to the others. "Let's quickly establish that, yes, I can understand Cyndaquil. Forget about whatever shock you feel right now." He then relayed what Cyndaquil had told him.

To his surprise, the others accepted the explanation of his ability. "So they think they can protect the other Bug Pokémon by keeping them all here?" Brock asked. Cale nodded. "That's crazy. At the rate Bug Pokémon eat, all the food in this valley will be gone in a matter of weeks."

"This is nuts," Ash said. "They think that just because the Pokémon taken out of here are young, that trainers won't treat them properly?" Ash broke from the group and stepped towards the tree. "What you're saying isn't true," he said to the Beedrill leader.

"Get back here, Ash," Misty cried.

Ash ignored her. "Just because a Pokémon is caught young doesn't mean it won't be trained to its fullest potential. I caught a Caterpie in this forest a long time ago, and it evolved into a super-powerful Butterfree."

Cale ran forward, grabbed Ash around the waist, and yanked him back. The Poisonsting attack Ash hadn't seen coming crashed into the ground where he'd stood. As Cale released Ash, he whispered, "Maybe you shouldn't have admitted you once caught a Pokémon here."

Ash didn't say anything. Cale stepped forward in his place. "Look, I know there are bad people in the world, trust me." He stuck his thumb back at the group. "But these people have nothing but love for their Pokémon. Even if we had caught one here, which we haven't, we would've treated it well."

The leader turned and pointed to the injured Beedrill. He clicked angrily. _"He wants to know how you can say that when you tried to catch that wounded Beedrill,"_ Cyndaquil said. _"He says you tried to take advantage of it in a weakened state."_

Cale shook his head. "We weren't trying to catch it, we were trying to help it. We had some medicine we were going to use on its injuries.

The Beedrill let loose a single click.

"_He wants you to prove it."_

With a low groan, Cale walked to Melanie's side. "Let me have that stuff you were going to give Beedrill earlier."

"Is that a good idea?" She asked. Her eyes darted back and forth from Beedrill to Cale.

"No, it isn't," Cale said. "But I don't have any others." Melanie nodded and reached into her backpack. She pulled out the potion and handed it to Cale.

Cale held the medicine over his head and walked to the Beedrill's side. "I'm going to spray him with this now," Cale announced. "It's going to help him." He knelt and looked Beedrill in the eye. "Just relax." He showed him the bottle, but the Pokémon didn't recoil as he had earlier.

Beedrill cringed as the spray stung his raw wounds. Before Cale could take his finger off the trigger, one of the other Beedrill swung its needled like a club and smashed Cale in the face. He crashed onto his back, and everything spun.

He heard some of the others speaking, and tasted blood in his mouth. "Fuck," he groaned. When his vision cleared he saw several Beedrill closing in around him.

"_Back off,"_ Cyndaquil shouted. He jumped in front of Cale, his back-flame lit. _"Don't touch him."_

Cale pulled himself to his feet and steadied himself. "All I did was help Beedrill," he said. "Check on him if you don't believe me."

Some of the Beedrill turned and looked at their comrade. The injured Beedrill rose and clicked. His wounds had healed a bit.

The leader began to click, and Cyndaquil's flame grew larger. _"You don't know what you're talking about,"_ he screamed. _"Cale did not give me these scars."_

Still dizzy, Cale heard the words his friend shouted. He felt the little worm inside him squirm more furiously than before. _It thinks I did that to Cyndaquil?_ The idea was too ludicrous for Cale to even consider another coming up with it. _Who does he think I am?_

"Cale?" He heard Melanie say. "What's going on? What're they talking about?"

"Beedrill thinks I gave Cyndaquil those scars." He didn't think on them, the words just rolled out of his mouth. _Beedrill thinks I'm an abuser._

In some small corner of his mind, he wondered why Melanie hadn't brought up Cyndaquil's scars. _She must've noticed them._ Had she been too embarrassed to ask? Had she concocted some hoop jumping story in her head for why this newly met person possessed a Pokémon covered in scars? It hurt him, the notion of her doubt.

"Well tell them you didn't," Melanie said.

Her voice swirled down into his depths and stirred something. For once, it wasn't the worm. _Yeah. Hell yeah._ His head finally clear, he walked to Cyndaquil's side. "I didn't hurt Cyndaquil," he said. "I never have and never will."

"_You don't have to-"_ Cyndaquil started.

Cale cut him off with a smile. "We're not just friends, you know," he said. He grabbed the bottom of his shirt and lifted.

As it passed over his face, he heard Cyndaquil say, _"I know."_

Melanie gave an exclamation that drifted from high to low. The kind of exclamation you try to stifle once you realize you're already uttering it. _Nothing for it now._ Cale turned his back to the Beedrill, and let them see his scars. "I'd never hurt a Pokémon," he said. "Because I know what it's like, and it's not something you wish on anyone."

He watched Melanie watch him. He tried to look nonchalant, then realized how stupid it was to do so. Melanie looked scared and confused. Cale wanted to say something to her; wanted to explain his entire situation, but didn't. The scars were enough.

The Beedrill's leader clicked. _"He says that just because you're a certain way, doesn't account for all the Pokémon that have been taken an misused by other humans."_

"Well, shit." Cale put his shirt back on. "I don't know what I'm supposed to say to that. The only ones I can vouch for are the people in this group."

Cyndaquil jumped onto Cale's back and clambered onto his shoulder. _"What about the Pokémon that want to go out and meet humans?" _He asked Beedrill from his perch. _"Aren't you being unfair to them?"_

"Good point," Cale whispered.

Beedrill didn't reply, but some of the other wild Pokémon shifted about. _"What you're doing is the same thing you claim the humans are doing. By taking the Pokémon and keeping them here, you're limiting all they could be."_

The Beedrill looked out across the valley at all the Pokémon he had corralled together. His face might've held a meaningful look, but Cale couldn't tell. "What're you going to do?"

A hum rose in the distance. Beedrill looked out over his followers. All the Pokémon of the valley kept their eyes on him. None said anything. The hum grew louder.

"Hey," Misty said. "What is that?" The hum grew louder.

Brock looked at the sky. "I don't know."

The hum grew to become the pattern of helicopter blades, slicing the air apart. It grew tremendous, and some of the smaller Pokémon fled towards the trees. Only the Beedrill maintained complete composure.

Over the tops of the trees flew a sleek, black helicopter. It blotted out the sun and cast its shadow over the large tree, where it hovered. On its underside, it carried cables connected to a huge metallic cube it towed. _How's it carrying that?_ The thing's size was multiples of the helicopter's.

The vehicle danced away from the tree, and released its cables. The cube landed in a clearing free of Pokémon and people, with a massive _boom_ that rattled Cale's teeth. Cyndaquil lost his grip on Cale's shoulder and slid to the ground.

Whoever flew the helicopter settled the machine down on top of the cube, and the engine slowly died.

Cale heard laughter over the slowly silencing engine. The doors of the helicopter popped open and two people stepped out. One, an attractive female with long, absurdly styled blonde hair, and the other, a emancipated young man with greenish blue hair that looked silly. Both wore black jumpsuits with a large, red letter "R" emblazoned on the front.

Brock let out a long and annoyed moan. "Like we didn't have enough problems."

Cyndaquil, on all fours, tensed. "What do you want?" Ash asked.

The two laughed again, villains fit for a TV show. "Well, well, well," the woman said. "If it isn't that twerp with his Pikachu and all his little friends."

"Not so fast, Cassidy," the other replied. His raspy voice made Cale cringe. "Looks like they've made some new friends. Check out the girl and the kid with the Cyndaquil."

"I said," Ash called, louder. "What do you want?"

"Prepare for trouble!"

"Make it double!"

They began what Cale could only describe as a strange, motto, anthem hybrid. He didn't understand a thing they meant. "What do you guys want?" He asked, interrupting them.

"Don't mess with the motto," Cassidy screamed, her face in a fury. "You. Don't. Interrupt. The. Motto."

Cale turned to the others. "Do you know these morons?"

Misty nodded. "Their criminals from Team Rocket. Cassidy and Bob."

"Hey!" The one named Bob started to wave his hands wildly. "You know my name is Butch, stop screwing it up on purpose."

"Oh, relax, Butch," Cassidy said. She seemed much calmer than five seconds prior. "We need not concern ourselves with them. After all, we're here for the Beedrill."

The hundreds of Beedrill tensed up, needles at the ready. "What do you want with them?" Ash asked.

Cassidy grinned. "When the Boss heard about the Beedrill forming their own little army, he wanted it. What better way to expand Team Rocket's influence."

"So we were assigned to find their little hideaway and catch em' all," Butch continued. "Now that we have, we'll be taking the Beedrill, as well as any Pokémon you've got."

Cale didn't think villains ever really bothered to explain their machinations, but he'd just been proven wrong. "Are you stupid?" He asked. The two would-be robbers snarled down at him like cartoon characters. "You've got all of us and a lot of pissed off Beedrill to go through. You don't stand a chance." Even as he spoke the words, he knew they'd have a backup plan. The villains always had an insurance policy of some kind.

"We've got no intention of battling you," Butch replied in his raspy voice. God, did it annoy Cale. "We'll just use our Beedrill Vacuum Mark One and suck them all into this container." He tapped his foot on the cube.

_Why did I even bother? Least we know what the container is for._

"So," Cassidy said with a flourish and her hand on a remote. "Without further ado." She pushed the button and even at the distance, Cale thought he could hear a _beep_.

A wide, circular area on one side of the cube opened and a huge tube appeared. Before Cale could even get a good look, he was drowned in the _whoosh_ it emitted as it sucked in air.

A dozen or so Beedrill were immediately dragged in, and Cale could feel the pull of it. His clothes whipped towards the machine, as if desperately trying to tear themselves away from him. Even the skin on his face seemed eager to rip away and fly to the machine.

He looked down and saw Cyndaquil. His friend stretched his little legs towards him, as his body was dragged backwards. _"Cale!"_

"Cyndaquil!" He gave into the suction and threw himself forward. For the briefest second, the air carried him, and he felt like he was flying. Then he crashed to the ground, grabbed Cyndaquil, hugged him tight, and dug his heels into the dirt.

Cale moved as little as possible, for fear of getting loose. As he shifted, bit by bit, he saw the injured Beedrill struggling against the vacuum. His strength failed and Beedrill flew backwards towards the hole. Cale reached out, snatched him from the air, and held him close with Cyndaquil.

The shock of the catch was too much, and Cale lost his position and sailed up and into the maw of the massive vacuum.

* * *

His whole world was darkness and the beating of a thousand Beedrill wings. He tried to move, but he found himself so tightly packed with the Pokémon, the slightest shift took effort. "Cyndaquil?" He called into the sound of the swarm. "Where are you?"

Something poked his chest. As his eyes adjusted, he could make out Cyndaquil as a small mound on his stomach. _"We've got to get out of here!"_

"No shit." Cale pulled Cyndaquil closer, up and onto his chest. "First, let's see if we can get away from all these Beedrill." He shoved and threw himself forward over and over, trying to break from the jumble. As he crawled forward, he felt a needle hook under his arm.

Whoever it was dragged him forward, through the masses of stingers and needles, through the sound of wings and panicked clicks, to a section of the cube not completely overrun with Beedrill. _"What's going on?"_

"One of the Beedrill is pulling us away from the others," Cale shouted. Soon he could stand, and Cyndaquil resumed his perch on his shoulder. "Find out what he wants."

Cyndaquil asked, and as the Beedrill replied, said, _"It's the injured one. He wants to try and break out of here, but all the other Beedrill are going nuts so he can't find the leader. He wants our help."_

"Does he have a plan?"

Again, he waited while the Pokémon spoke. _"Try to break through,"_ Cyndaquil said with a shrug. _"If I use Ember and he uses Pin Missile, we may have a shot."_

"I doubt it," Cale said. "This thing looked tough. If two Pokémon could break out, it'd never hold a thousand Beedrill."

"_So what do we do?"_

Cale looked back through the darkness at the mass of Beedrill. "Maybe if you concentrated your attacks on the same spot, we could make a big enough hole to get out."

"_How do we get that setup?"_

"Fire up the flames on your back." Light appeared in the small space, with the Beedrills' silhouettes dancing and swaying all over. Cale turned to the former injured Beedrill. "Try to get their attention, bring as many as you can to this spot."

Beedrill nodded, and went into the darkness. Minutes passed, and the continued buzzing of insect wings started to give Cale a headache.

Before long, a small unit of Beedrill had arrived. Cale recognized the leader among them. He explained the plan to the Beedrill, and as far as he could tell, they understood. He ordered Cyndaquil to use Ember.

A mass of Pin Missiles sliced through the air into the wall, eclipsing the Ember in strength and size. "Keep it up," Cale shouted. A huge cracking noise broke through the air, and a puff of smoke flew into his face and lungs.

He dropped to his knees, coughing and sputtering, trying to see through the thick haze. As everything cleared, he saw daylight pouring in. The hundreds of captive Beedrill surged to the exit and escaped into the air.

Cale grabbed Cyndaquil around the waist and hurled himself into the wake of Beedrill. The two of them tumbled around and landed on the soft grass. A gulped in fresh air and stared at the sky full of Pokémon.

Another explosion rocked him out of his stupor, and he looked up to see a Pokémon battle between Ash and the others and the members of Team Rocket.

Before he could follow what had happened, a Thunderbolt from Pikachu slammed into the helicopter, and it erupted. The shockwave carried Cassidy and Butch into the sky and out over the trees. _Holy shit, are they going to die?_ They were out of sight before long.

Cale got to his feet. "Are you guys okay?" He asked Melanie and the others.

"Are we okay?" Melanie asked. "Are you okay?" You were the one who got sucked into that machine."

Cale explained what had happened in the cube.

"We started fighting once the vacuum switched off," Misty said. "Those two were never that strong anyway."

"_Cale."_ Cyndaquil nudged him. _"Behind us."_

He turned and found the Beedrill leader at eye level, no more than five feet from him. He clicked. _"He says, thanks."_ Cyndaquil smiled. Cale nodded. The Beedrill continued to click. _"He says it was wrong to try and force the Pokémon here in order to keep them away from humans. He thinks some humans can be trusted after meeting us. So he's going to break the Beedrill into their hives again and call off the attacks on humans."_

"Okay," Cale said. "Great." _I wonder if everything gets solved this quickly around here._

Some quick goodbyes are directions were exchanged, and Cale and the others bid the Beedrill farewell.

* * *

"Are you sure this is the right way?" Melanie asked. "I could ask Spearow to look again."

Brock shook his head. "I'm positive Pewter City is in this direction, although we may have to camp out here tonight before we can get very far. It's pretty late."

"I'm exhausted," Ash said. "Today was way too long."

Cale felt tired too. Once the danger had passed, the others had peppered him with questions regarding Cyndaquil. During all the commotion, Ash had figured out Cale's ability to understand his Pokémon, and now everyone was nauseatingly curious.

The only way Cale had gotten them to shut up was by promising to talk about it later. He had no intention of doing so. _Can't really tell much if I don't know how I do it, myself._ The worm inside him squirmed at the thought. It made him feel lousy.

"Hey?" Misty turned around and looked into the trees. "What's that noise?"

Cale registered it as the beating of Beedrill wings, before one popped out of the wood. Misty shrieked and ran behind Ash, and Cyndaquil jumped from Cale's shoulder to fired up his backflame. _"Oh,"_ Cyndaquil said after a second, _"It's him."_

The injured Beedrill nodded. Only, he wasn't injured anymore. "Hi," Cale said. "What're you doing here?"

Beedrill began to click. _"He says he's always stayed away from humans, because he doesn't trust them. He thinks you're different though. You were willing to help him even though he would've attacked you had he been healthy." _

"That was more Melanie, actually," Jack said, embarrassed. Had it been up to him, he probably would've left the Beedrill where it was. He wasn't too proud of that thought.

Beedrill clicked once more. _"He wants to join us,"_ Cyndaquil translated. _"But he wants a battle first."_

Cale blinked. "Seriously?" Beedrill nodded. "You want to come with us?" Beedrill nodded again. "Seriously?" Beedrill nodded a third time. "Uh, sure."

Nothing squirmed inside him. Cale grinned. He'd known Beedrill for only an afternoon, yet he was glad the Pokémon had chosen him. To Cale, it felt right that the Pokémon had picked him. He felt good as Beedrill flew a bit down the path and clashed his needles together. _Guess I've got a new friend._

Beedrill charged.

"Tackle," Cale said. As Cyndaquil ran at Beedrill, but as he prepared to ram him, Beedrill spun to the side. He brought his needles up and stabbed them into Cyndaquil's side. Cale's friend cried in pain and collapsed.

"_Let's not try that again,"_ Cyndaquil called as he rose.

"Right." Cale heard everyone commenting on the battle, but ignored them. He didn't want, or need their advice. "Keep your distance and use Ember." The little sparks hit Beedrill, but weren't enough to down him.

"Keep up the Ember!" This time, Beedrill dodged and sent a Pin Missile. "Get out of the way," Cale called. Cyndaquil dodged, but the Pin Missile hit the ground and the shockwave caused the little Pokémon to lose his balance. Beedrill closed in and hit Cyndaquil with another Twin Needle.

_Beedrill is too fast for him. He dodges nearly everything he sees._ Cale grinned. The answer was simple. "Cyndaquil, Smokescreen."

A thick haze of black smoke poured from Cyndaquil's mouth, and covered Beedrill and the battlefield.

"Jump as high as you can," Cale ordered. Cyndaquil emerged from the smoke and seemed to hang in the air, eclipsed against the setting sun. Cale smiled up at his friend. "Now Ember the whole damn Smokescreen!"

Embers rained down into the smoke. The field, covered in flames, sent wave after wave of heat against Cale's face. Cyndaquil dropped to the ground, panting and readied.

The smoke cleared, the flames dissipated, and Cale saw a very tired, beaten Beedrill on the ground.

"Throw the Pokeball!" Ash called.

Cale nodded and pulled one free from his belt. It expanded, and he hurled it. It struck Beedrill on the back, and he disappeared inside with a flash of red light. The ball shook for a moment, and lay still.

He walked over the Pokeball, picked it up and smiled. Cyndaquil appeared at his side. "Well pal," Cale said, leaning down to pet Cyndaquil's head. "Looks like we've got a new teammate. Good fight by the way."

"_That's great and all, but could I have some of that medicine Beedrill got earlier? My side is killing me."_

Cale chuckled. "Sure."

"What was that?" Ash glared at him from across the field.

_What did I do wrong now?_ "What?"

"You did it all wrong."

"You're the one who told me to throw the damn Pokeball!"

"No, not that," Ash said. "Your reaction was all wrong." He pulled free one of his Pokeballs and took a position before Cale and the others."

"Here he goes again," Misty said with a sigh.

"Observe," Ash said. He closed his fist around the ball and thrust it into the air. "Alright! I caught Beedrill!"

"Pi Pikachu!" Pikachu merrily cried.

Cale blinked. "Yeah, I'm not doing that."

"Why not?"

"Because it looks moronic."

"No it doesn't. That's how I've done it for years."

"I rest my case." Ash hung his head as the others laughed. Cale turned to the group. "Brock, Melanie, do you guys have any medicine for Cyndaquil?"

"Sure." Melanie knelt next to Cyndaquil and took another bottle from her backpack. She sprayed some on Cyndaquil, and complimented his fight.

Cale looked at the Pokeball he still held in his hand. "Might as well get introductions out of the way." Cyndaquil climbed back onto his shoulder. Cale tossed the Pokeball into the air. It opened, and Beedrill appeared. "Welcome to the group, Beedrill."

He introduced himself, Cyndaquil and the others. Beedrill clicked a bit. _"He wants to know where we're going,"_ Cyndaquil said.

"To Pewter City. For a badge. Then, I guess we'll go all over the place."

More clicks. _"He wants to know if we're going to face any tough opponents."_

Cale smiled and nodded. "Probably."

Beedrill smashed his needles together and his pincers widened in a way Cale thought looked like a smile.

* * *

"Take it easy Butch," Cassidy said. "You're making me nervous."

"But we screwed up big, this time," Butch whimpered. "The Boss, really, _really_ wanted that Beedrill army and that machine was expensive and-"

Cassidy smacked his head. "Listen, we faced unseen circumstances. When the Boss hears what kind of odds we were up against, he'll forgive us. Look at how many times he _hasn't_ killed Jessie and James."

Butch rolled his eyes. "Those guys are nothing more than a running gag. We were actually assigned to this, and we blew it."

The Team Rocket safehouse in Viridian hadn't been used in years. Few members knew of its existence. Still, it had served its purpose during the Beedrill operation, and the Boss awaited their call from the vidscreen they stood before at the moment.

"Let's just get this over with." Cassidy dialed the Boss' number while Butch tried willing himself invisible.

Giovanni appeared, his beloved Persian in lap. "Have you captured the Beedrill army?"

Cassidy shook her head at Butch's cowardice. "Sir, we were unable to capture the army. We had captured most of the warriors, but several people interfered. Our machine was destroyed and they escaped."

"What?" Giovanni didn't so much as say it as he roared it.

"You see," Butch said. "These kids with a Pikachu and Cyndaquil came, and one of them got sucked up with the Beedrill and somehow they managed to break out. We'll show the footage now."

Butch pushed a button and a clip of the battle popped up onto the screen. They knew Giovanni could see the same footage in his office. "You're telling me," their boss said. "That the expensive device I gave you, specifically for this mission, was destroyed by a bunch of children?"

"Yes, sir," Cassidy said. "We're sorry."

"Sorry? You think sorry is going to-" His voice trailed off. "Rewind it." Butch and Cassidy hesitated. "Rewind it!"

They rewound the tape. "Zoom in on the one next to the Cyndaquil," Giovanni said. They did. The Boss stared at the screen, and didn't say anything for a whole minute.

"Boss?" Cassidy asked.

"Good work," Giovanni said. "Take a week off." Then he disconnected the line.

"What was that all about?" Butch asked.

Cassidy shrugged.

* * *

Giovanni stared at his desk for a good, long while.

He pushed the button for his intercom. "No calls," he told his secretary.

His blinds were already down and cropped, his door, locked. He pulled out a Pokeball and recalled the Persian, ignoring its shock.

He considered not making the call he knew he had to. _They wouldn't know. They couldn't know. Yes, they could._

With shaking hands, he dialed a number he had only ever called twice. He prayed, as it dialed, no one would pick up.

Five figures, all cloaked and sitting around a table in darkness, appeared.

Giovanni bowed.

"What do you want, Giovanni?" One asked.

Few viewed Giovanni as an underling, and all of them watched him now. "I think I have found the one you are looking for," Giovanni said.

"Do you think, or do you know?" An edge danced along with the voice. Giovanni knew he had to watch himself.

"I've just seen a video, and he looks precisely as he should."

"Show us." A new voice, this time. Giovanni never knew who spoke. He saw no mouths move.

He showed them the video. After a few moments, another asked, "Where was this taken? Viridian?"

"The Viridian Forest. It's only a few hours old. I could dispatch agents and have him taken."

"You will do nothing," the first voice said.

"We will handle this," the second said.

"What should I do?" Giovanni asked.

"Continue with whatever operations you're undertaking. This task is too important for you to handle."

"As you wish." He bowed again.

"And Giovanni?" He looked up at the screen. "If you touch the boy, we will find out."

"Of course. I will remember."

"See that you do. We'd hate to use resources to make an example of you as we did with your mother."

The screen went blank, and Giovanni sank down into his chair. Suddenly, he wished very much he had never heard of a Beedrill army in the Viridian Forest.

* * *

"_They know."_

"_I would be surprised if they didn't."_

"_I fear what they may do, now that both of them walk in this world."_

"_You fear too much. They will rise to the challenge. Have faith in them."_

"_You have too much."_

"_And you too little. The enemy will not make its move yet. It is far too early."_

"_And when they do make their move?"_

"_The boys will succeed."_


	4. Chapter 4

_I'm on the ground, and another boot kicks my ribs. Something breaks. Every hit sounds wet. They're speaking. I can't understand them. Why am I here? What have I done? I don't remember even as I black out._

Chapter 4: Limits

Cale woke with his arms wrapped tight around his chest. The cracks in his ribs ached and pulsed through him, blotting out everything. All was the ache and pulse. Only the ache and pulse.

It faded. First, it hurt a bit less, then it trickled out of him like a dripping faucet. He laid on the forest floor, tucked into his sleeping bag, pain free and cold. The morning's air braced against his exposed face, and he shoved his head down as far as he could into the bag. _A vision_. The thought had a certainty about it. _Just a vision._

Suddenly he couldn't stay there. He had to get up, had to move, had to fight back, had to **_do something_**. He thrashed and kicked his way out of the bag and stood in the middle of the group. They all slept. Ash snored softly next to Misty, and Brock and Melanie lay curled up in their bags. The worm squirmed and he felt resentful. _Yeah, just keep sleeping peacefully_.

His chest was bare, and the cold morning air shivered the thought away. Why was he mad at them? They hadn't done anything to him. They were his…

_Friends?_

Cale grabbed a shirt and marched off into the woods. He pulled it over his head and ignored the small stabs from the dirt and stones and roots. Friendship. Cyndaquil was his friend. He knew as much. But the others? The humans? _Humans like me._ Only, they weren't like him. They were from here. He was the one not like them. He was foreign. _Alien_.

He walked absentmindedly into a clearing and stopped. If he kept going, he wouldn't be able to find his way back. _Maybe I shouldn't go back_. He entertained the thought of running off into the Viridian Forest, of being alone, and quickly stomped on the idea. Instead, he sat on an old log by the clearing's edge.

No Pokémon were around, and Cale let himself think he was back in New York for just a moment. Maybe he had gotten lost in New Jersey, and these were the Pine Barrens. Maybe everything had been a strange dream. "You don't dream in dreams," he said to himself. "And you don't have visions."

He didn't know how many people had been hurting him. Four, maybe five. The vision had started with the pain and ended with it. He thought back to the gunshot, of the faces and the pain, the fire and smoke. There were no connections to draw.

_"Cale?"_ He turned and saw Cyndaquil at the forest's edge, tiny among the sentinel trees.

"Guess I woke you," he said. There was no reason to stand on ceremony with Cyndaquil, to pretend things were fine. "Sorry."

_"You had another vision, didn't you?"_ Cale nodded. _"What happened?"_

Cale felt tired, as if three days had passed with no sleep. "It didn't last long. There were people kicking me. I was on the ground. They were saying stuff, but I couldn't understand it."

Cyndaquil sat next to him on the stump. He looked almost comical, sitting on his butt, with his little stubby legs out before him. Then Cale saw the scars. _"My old master used to say things when he beat me too. I couldn't hear them either."_

He reached out and scratched Cyndaquil's head.

_"Why are we looking for the Legendaries?"_ Cyndaquil asked. _"Do you really want to remember all these things? I know you have a hard time trusting the others. Do you want to know you're that way?"_

Cale opened his mouth, and shut it again. He had no answer.

_"Because it sounds to me like your life was miserable."_ Cale grinned down at him. _"I'm serious. I wouldn't want to remember that, but isn't that why we're looking for Mew and Lugia, so you can remember?"_

That night in the water came back to him. He could see the silhouettes against the bright flash. "Maybe I won't like what I find," he said, finally. "But I said I'd look. Besides, what else am I supposed to do?"

_"Become a trainer,"_ Cyndaquil said.

"What'd you mean?"

Cyndaquil jumped off the log and stood before Cale, staring up into his eyes. _"Forget trying to find the Legendaries. Forget looking for your past. You're here, _now._ Accept it, and become a trainer."_

Give it up? He'd only just started. What was he supposed to do? Ignore everything that had happened to him? Ignore the visions? But it appealed to him. Oh yes, it did. It was simple, like Ash. _Train, fight, train, fight. That's all there is too it._ The life of a trainer had its excitement and its benefits. "I don't know-"

_"Just think about it,"_ Cyndaquil said. _"Whatever you decide, you know I'm with you. I just don't want to see you hurt. We've both been through enough."_

Cale nodded and Cyndaquil sat back down. After a time, Cale said, "You know, we should probably let Beedrill in on this."

_"Oh wow,"_ Cyndaquil laughed. _"I totally forgot about him! You think we should let him know?"_

Cale stood and stretched his arms. "Of course, he's our friend now too, right?"

_"You're weird."_ Cyndaquil smirked. Cale asked what he meant. _"You have no problem opening up to Pokémon, but you do with people. It's weird."_

"Yeah well, it helps that I can understand you. That's kind of like cheating, I guess."

Cale snuck back to camp, Cyndaquil on his shoulder. The others still slept soundly, despite the cresting sun. He fumbled a bit in his pack, withdrew Beedrill's Pokeball, and returned to the woods. Once back at the clearing he released Beedrill.

The Pokémon took a look around and met Cale's eyes. His mandibles clicked. "Little help, Cyndaquil?" Cale asked.

_"He asked, 'What's up?'"_

If Beedrill needed a translator, Cale reasoned this would be a very awkward relationship. "I've got a story to tell you, Beedrill." And he told him.

The minutes ticked by, and to his credit, Beedrill listened patiently through it all. When Cale finished, Beedrill clicked. _"He said, 'That sucks.'"_ Cyndaquil said.

Cale laughed. "It sure does."

"Cale?"

He turned and found Melanie. Still dressed for bed, she seemed groggy, but worried. "Are you okay?" She asked.

"Yeah I'm fine what's up?" The words tumbled out of him. He felt his face go red and tried to force it down. It didn't work.

"I just got worried," Melanie said, a slight sleepy slur to her words. "I woke up and didn't see you. I sent Spearow looking for you." She pointed and Cale followed her finger to the sky, where a small shape circled above them. "The others aren't up yet."

"I'm fine," Cale said. He stuck his thumb at his Pokémon. "I was just having a little talk."

"Oh," she said, and then lapsed. Cale started to click his teeth together in a small rhythm. _Guess I do that when I'm nervous._ He had a right to be, this was the first they had been alone since she'd seen his scars. He could read her enough to tell she was thinking about them.

"I appreciate you being worried," Cale said. "But I'm fine." It was the third time he'd said so. "I won't be much longer. Why don't you go back and make sure no one wakes up and thinks we took off without a word."

Melanie nodded and walked back without a word.

Beedrill clicked and Cyndaquil translated. _"Does Melanie know about you?"_

"No."

_"Why?"_

"Because she doesn't need to." Beedrill didn't say anything again. "Besides, she's on a quest for badges. And I'm…" He looked at Cyndaquil, "I don't know."

Beedrill clicked again. _"Beedrill thinks you're being melodramatic."_

"How do Pokémon even learn those words?" Cale asked.

#

The bubbling, happy atmosphere had returned to the group by the time Cale returned. He wondered if yesterday's Beedrill situation was par the course for them. _You face danger every day, but act happy the next._ He felt a twinge of admiration. These were some brave kids. _Or incredibly stupid_. He looked over at Ash who blew on his steaming breakfast of oatmeal. _Probably stupid._

The Pokémon ate separately, and Cale spied Melanie's others. A Sandshrew and Abra, she explained to him later. As they packed up their camp, Ash turned to Cale. "You ready for your first Gym battle?"

Cyndaquil's question suddenly loomed over him. Why would he try to get badges? Did their competition mean anything to him? "Not sure," he answered with a shrug. "I haven't gotten to spend much time with Beedrill, and Cyndaquil's weak against Rock-types, right?"

Ash pumped his fist into the air. "That's true, but where there's a will there's a way."

**Definitely** _stupid_. What could he be expected to do? He'd had one battle. Did they expect him to just throw himself and his Pokémon into the ring and hope for the best? _Maybe that's something else they do around here._

They'd camped on the trail to Pewter City, and stepped back onto it once they'd finished their packing. Brock promised to be there by noon, and the morning passed slowly and silently. "Hey Ash?" Misty asked an hour into the hike.

"Yeah?"

"Doesn't this look kinda familiar?"

"It's forest Misty," Ash said. "It all looks familiar."

Cale marched on next to Brock, who led the way and whose eyes kept scanning the tree line. He didn't pay much attention to the conversation.

Misty said something else, and them someone shouted. "HIIIII-"

Something sharp and metallic hung in Cale's face, and everything winked out. He became aware of sensations: heat, dust, a sharp pain on his arm, and a dull throbbing one in his hand. The voices he heard were muffled, distant and incomprehensible. Something bad had happened, and this was his response.

Something wrapped around him, and time crashed together in his head. He was pulled back, and Brock's voice was shouting, "Cool it Cale!" Ash was yelling, "Knock it off!" Cyndaquil was snarling on the ground, and his hand…

His hand had blood on the knuckles. Just a few drops, but they drew his eyes like a magnet. _When did I…?_ Brock tossed him to the ground, and the _thud_ knocked the air from his lungs. He coughed, once, twice, and then sat up.

Misty and Melanie were crouched over someone on the ground, and both stared at him. Misty looked pissed, but Melanie looked something else. She had a hand over her mouth, and her eyes were wide. He wanted to stand, to make things right. He didn't know what was happening, but he didn't want her to look at him like that. _What's wrong? What happened?_

Then he saw the sword.

It lay in the grass a few feet away, and its edge had a trickle of blood on it. His blood. He turned and saw the shallow cut in his shoulder. A single line of it rivered away and into the fibers of the shirt Mrs. Ketchum had given him. He felt bad about that.

Everything came back. Someone had shoved a sword in his face. Cale had moved forward, and gotten himself cut. He had tackled the boy to the ground, and started to punch. _It was self-defense then._ "Self-defense," he coughed out.

"That was _not_ self-defense." This from Brock, who stood over him, tensed.

"He pulled a sword on me!" Cale cried.

The boy sat up, his hand over his nose, and small trails of blood oozing out of the space between fingers. "I issued a challenge, that was all!" His voice was nasally. "Why did you attack me like that?"

"You attacked me!"

"No," Ash said. "He didn't." He pulled the boy to his feet, and Cale saw he wore chipped and dusty pieces of armor. "This is Samurai."

Cyndaquil was at his side, gazing up at him. _"Are you okay?"_

Cale nodded and stood. Brock took a few steps back. Everyone stiffened. He was about to say he wasn't going to attack, but didn't. _They should know. They keep wanting to know me, they should know what I would and wouldn't do._ He had attacked Samurai. Mindlessly. "You call that a challenge?"

"It is my way."

"We've met him before," Ash said, his hand on Samurai's shoulder. "A few years ago. He keeps to the Forest and challenges travelers."

"I met him the other day," Melanie said. Her voice was low, but steady. "It's weird, but he's harmless."

And now he was on the outside again. The worm inside him twitched. Why should they blame him? "You should've asked."

Samurai scowled. "I would've."

"Without the sword."

Samurai kept silent. The others gathered around him. Brock checked the wound; his nose wasn't broken. Ash asked if he was alright a half dozen times. Misty and Melanie wore carved faces of concern. Cale didn't think they blinked.

Bruised and bloody, Samurai assured them he was fine. Some minutes passed before he convinced them. Though he wobbled a bit, he held himself straight and pointed across the path at Cale. "We fight, now."

"Fine," Cale said. _Wait, does he mean a Pokémon battle?_

_"Cale, are you sure about this?"_ Cyndaquil asked. The flames had sprung up on his back, but he kept an eye on his trainer. _"We don't know anything about him."_

Cale whispered back, "We know he goes down easily." Cyndaquil stared at him. _What made me say that?_

"Guys, I don't think this is a good idea," Brock said. "Samurai, you could be hurt."

Samurai ignored him. "A two on two battle. How does that find you?"

"It finds me just fine." Cale felt off. _I should be thinking more._ It was a strange thought, but true. To Cale, it seemed as if his mind shut down. Everything tuned into Samurai, and Cyndaquil beside him.

"Cut it out," Misty said. "This isn't the time for you two airheads to start duking it out. If you want to fight, at least get ready first."

But the two were beyond words now. First, Melanie backed away. Then Brock. Then Ash pulled Misty aside. Samurai drew a Pokeball and threw it. "Butterfree, go!"

Beedrill's Pokeball left Cale's hand a moment later. He didn't remember grabbing it.

"Butterfree, Sleep Powder!" The butterfly soared over Beedrill, a green mist cascaded from its wings.

"Get away, Beedrill. Climb away from it." He hadn't even taken the time to learn all of Beedrill's attacks. Cale could do nothing about it now. As Beedrill pulled out from under the powder, Cale cried, "Twin Needle!" Beedrill charged.

"Butterfree, Gust!" The wind from Butterfree's wings slammed into Beedrill, and he tumbled through the air before being pushed away. "Stun Spore!" Before the Gust finished, orange vapor blasted through the air and covered Beedrill. He twitched, stopped moving. He fell.

"Psychic!" The air around Beedrill shimmered and turned a boundless violet. Beedrill seemed to fall even faster, and crashed into the earth with a boom Cale didn't think matched his size. When the bits of dust cleared, Beedrill lay unconscious in the dirt.

Cale forgot the battle and ran to his side. His friend's eyes were closed, and his body had gone limp. "Recall him, Cale!" He heard Brock yell. "Beedrill's unconscious, you'll only hurt him more if you touch him in that state."

So Cale took the Pokeball and Beedrill disappeared in a flash of red light.

_"Is it my turn?"_ Cyndaquil asked. He eyed Butterfree, who drifted about on small bouts of wind.

"Yes," Cale said. Cyndaquil dashed onto the field and before Cale could say "Ember," he'd unleashed the attack. The fiery pellets hit Butterfree's underside, but the bug remained in the air.

"Stun Spore!"

"Smokescreen!"

The smoke and the mist his one another and mingled into a strange, dark orange haze. Cyndaquil backed away, cautiously, but Butterfree was lost in the cloud.

"Where'd it-"

"Psychic!" The air around Cyndaquil glowed purple, and he was lifted off the ground. Then he was slammed back into it. Lifted. Slammed. Lifted. Slammed. Cale watched and wondered when it would stop, but it didn't.

Cyndaquil let out a cry with every hit, and one by one, they brought Cale out of his trance. "I don't-"

"Stop the match, Cale," Melanie called.

Butterfree smashed his friend into the ground again. _We couldn't even beat one of his._ "Enough," he cried.

"Do you surrender?" Samurai asked.

"I do." The world flooded back to him as he said the words. The trees, the path, the people; his broken friend sprawled on the forest floor. Cyndaquil didn't like the Pokeball, he'd said as much to Cale before. He pulled it loose anyway, and Cyndaquil disappeared into a faint red light. He'd apologize later.

Samurai was saying something, but like his vision that morning, he couldn't hear it. The words drifted around his ears, but never quite entered. His head swam, and he moved to a nearby tree, and slid down against it. _What happened?_ Yes, the loss shook him, but his attitude, that _scared_ him. He'd gotten his friends hurt, for no good reason.

"Are you alright?" He looked up and saw Melanie. He hadn't seen her approach. "You look pale."

"I don't know why I did any of the things I just did," he said lamely. It didn't even dawn on him how stupid the words were.

"We're going to go to Samurai's cabin," she said. "He said he'll take care of your Pokémon there."

She offered a hand. He took it. It was calloused. For some reason, that made him feel more comfortable. "I'm sorry," he said.

She arched an eyebrow, but didn't smile. "For what?"

He shrugged. "Just… I'm sorry." She nodded. He didn't know if she understood. He didn't even know if he understood. The two joined the others on the march to Samurai's.

#

Everyone was catching up outside, but Cale sat inside, in the dark. _Christ, but this guy could use some lights_. The cabin was small, and rustic as could be. Its only piece of furniture was a small cot in the corner, upon which Beedrill and Cyndaquil slept. They'd been bandaged and given Super Potion, but they hadn't woken up yet.

He felt like a mess. Too many things were swirling through his mind, and he couldn't get a lockdown on any of them. He wanted his friends to wake up, wanted to know why he'd blacked out, why he'd behaved as if he were a different person, wanted to know just **_what the fuck_** was going on with him.

But he didn't know, and it sucked. What was worse was Cyndaquil. Cale didn't know how Beedrill would handle the loss, but he was truly worried for Cyndaquil. The little Pokémon had only just come back from the edge. If something like this pushed him back over, he'd never forgive Samurai.

"If the son of a bitch hadn't shoved a sword in my face," he mumbled, then stopped. Because it wasn't Samurai's fault. It was his. _We weren't ready. We needed more training. I've only known Beedrill a day, and Cyndaquil's only had one battle._ Their condition was his fault and that only made it worse.

Cyndaquil's eyes opened. _"Cale?"_

"Yeah, I'm here." He reached out a hand and gently stroked his friend's fur.

_"We couldn't do anything,"_ Cyndaquil said. _"Our attacks did nothing."_

"I'm sorry I put you in that mess," Cale said. "That was my fault. It won't happen again."

_"We're weak_._"_

Cale glared down at him. _Weak._ What did that word even mean? "We're not, we're just not as experienced."

All the shit he felt, he pushed aside. Cyndaquil needed him and he couldn't get distracted by anything. He wouldn't let himself. _There's got to be something we can do._ "We need to beat Samurai," he said absently, without thinking about it. Then he sat up straighter. "We need to beat Samurai." He told Cyndaquil what he thought.

When Beedrill, woke up, they told him their plan. He agreed, and the three of them stepped outside into the sun. Ash looked up from the small table they'd set up. "Oh good, are you ready to get going?"

Cale shook his head. "I'm not leaving yet."

No one spoke, as if they expected him to say more. He didn't. "What do you mean?" Brock asked.

"Cyndaquil, Beedrill and I are going to stay here and train in the woods for a while," Cale said. "Then we're going to have a rematch with Samurai."

Samurai glared at him. "Someone who can't accept loss is a troubled man."

"Says the kid in the armor," Cale replied. Cyndaquil snickered.

"How long is this going to take?" Misty asked.

Cale shrugged. "Not sure." The group looked at each other, and everyone exchanged glances that seemed to mean something. "I'm not asking you to stay with me. We'll be fine, Beedrill has lived in this forest his whole life. Pewter City is only another hour or so from here. This is what we need to do." _It's also for the best_, the small worm said, _none of them can stay long, they all have places to be_. He'd be alone. He'd be comfortable. He thought.

Melanie stood. "I can stay. If you need a training partner." She didn't look him in the eye, and she sat back down quickly.

"Don't you have your own journey to go on?" Cale asked, and then realized how horrible it sounded.

"Yeah," Melanie said, "but it can wait. Besides, it'd be nice to stop and train in one place for a while." Then she looked up at him. "If that's okay with you, of course." Cale got the impression it would be very dangerous if it wasn't okay with him. He nodded.

Ash beamed. "Hey, if I stay, it means I can have my rematch with Samurai!" Then Brock and Misty agreed to stay. _Well, I didn't see that coming_.

"Thanks," Cale said, "I guess. Cyndaquil, Beedrill and I will be heading out into the woods now. We'll be back later." The others offered protests. He should bring one of them with him. He declined. He just wanted to be alone with his Pokémon, and figure things out for right now. He marched off into the forest.

#

Days passed. Twice a day, Cale would return from the forest for a prepared meal. He'd come back after sundown to sleep. He said little, but ate a lot. To the others, he had a sort of distant look on his face.

On the morning of the fourth day, he slung his pack over his shoulder and headed into the woods, though he didn't get very far. "Sneaking off again?" Ash asked him, coming out from behind a tree.

Cale groaned a bit and turned around. "You're getting on my nerves again, Ash."

"Where are you going?" Ash's glare kept going from Cale's face to his pack and back again.

"I'm going to train. I'm not sneaking away."

"Isn't it a little early?"

Cale shrugged. Cyndaquil, who sat on his shoulder, was dozing against his head. "We'll be fine."

"You can't run your Pokémon ragged, Cale," Ash said, looking at Cyndaquil. "You'll burn them out."

"I said, we'll be fine." He turned and left Ash standing in the forest.

Nothing Ash had said was new to him. He knew Beedrill and Cyndaquil were tired, but it was their insistence that they keep going. They'd found a clearing a half mile through the woods, and had spent hours training and practicing their moves. Cale may have been new at training, but a small part of him was convinced he had a knack for it. "I'm surprised at myself," he said, to a half-awake Cyndaquil as they walked through the woods.

Cyndaquil yawned. _"Why's that?"_

"I didn't think I'd be able to focus for so long on just one thing. Days have gone by and I've barely thought about the Legendaries, my past, and…" _And how I blacked out and attacked Samurai_. "It's nice."

_"Maybe you should just stick with training."_

Cale nodded. He would. It fit him. Devising strategies, seeing his friends get stronger; it made him happy. Or at least, less mindful of the things that made him unhappy.

They came to the clearing and found Beedrill already using Twin Needle against a trunk. He'd insisted on staying behind the night before and training. Cale had felt a little strange about leaving him alone, but Beedrill had insisted he'd be fine. _"After all boss,"_ Beedrill had said, _"I did live here."_

That was another happy circumstance. The other day, Cale had realized he could understand Beedrill in the same way he understood Cyndaquil. It had come in bits and pieces, similar to Cyndaquil's situation, but far fewer than the latter had taken. It made communication easier, as Cyndaquil no longer had to translate.

Even that, Cale didn't dwell on. He was here to train, and it's what he did. Simple, uncomplicated, measureable.

"You know," he said to his friends that night, as they made their way back through the forest. "I think we're ready."

Beedrill nodded. _"I've never been this strong in my whole life!"_ The Pokémon had shared the story of how he had come to be so badly damaged when Cale and Melanie found him. He'd been chasing a human out of the forest, when the boy retaliated with e Charmander, whose fire attacks and Scratches had wounded him. He had lain in that tree for hours, until Cale and Melanie had come along.

Cyndaquil didn't seem so eager. _"If we lose, after all of this…"_

Cale stroked his friend's head. "No matter what happens, we stay strong." They'd made a promise together, though not in so many words. Back when Cale had brought Cyndaquil back from his waking coma, they'd been set upon a path, and one they couldn't just forget about. Cale had decided to stick with training, if gave him purpose and clarity, and that meant he had an obligation to train Cyndaquil and Beedrill as best he could. He didn't know about badges or tournaments or competitions. It was a directionless promise, but a promise nevertheless.

Cyndaquil smiled up and him and nodded.

When they returned to Samurai's cabin, Melanie asked him when he would fight Samurai. "Tomorrow," he said. "We're ready."

"Good," Melanie said, smiling. "I can't stand this forest anymore." She looked over her shoulder, the two were away from the main group. "Or Brock, or that Samurai kid. Do you have any food, by chance? We ate dinner, but I'm still kind of hungry."

Cale reached into his pack and took out some Oran berries he'd saved. Melanie scarfed them down, then smiled back at him. "So how's the training been going?"

"Well," Cale said.

_"Well?"_ Beedrill slammed his needles together. _"It's been fantastic!"_

"What'd he say?" Melanie asked.

"He said it's been going very well," Cale said, smirking. Then he saw Melanie's face. "What?"

"Cyndaquil didn't translate."

_Oh shit._

Melanie looked at Beedrill. "You can understand him now, too?"

Cale felt stuck, once again, and knew covering it up wouldn't help. "Yeah."

"That's so cool," she said. "Maybe I should come up her for a few days and train my Pokémon. Maybe I'd understand what they're saying. Well, not Abra, cause he just sleeps all the time, but the others, definitely!" Cale let her ramble on for a bit. The thing inside him squirmed a bit, but he buried it. Her talking didn't bother him. He smiled a bit. Melanie considered to surprise him.

Later on, the two of them sat near the edge of the camp, just a ways from Samurai's cabin. Cale didn't want to sleep in the same room as his opponent the next day, for whatever reason he couldn't explain to himself, and planned to sleep in the open. Melanie hadn't gone to bed yet. "Hey Cale?" She asked, without looking at him.

"Yeah?" He was getting tired, and figured he'd tell Melanie he was going to sleep in a second.

"Where are you from? Really?"

Cale forgot about sleep. "What're you talking about?"

"I'm not stupid," she said. "When Ash said you were from Pallet, I knew it was a lie."

"But I'm-"

"It's okay if you don't want to tell me. I'm sure you have your reasons. Sorry for asking such an awkward question. Good night." She stood and started to walk away.

Cale stood up. "Melanie?" She turned and looked at him, expectantly. "It's nothing personal. I just don't like talking about that stuff."

She smiled at him. "It's okay, I understand. I'm sorry for asking that anyway." She walked inside.

_"Well,"_ Cyndaquil, who'd been watching, said, _"at least you didn't totally isolate her."_

"Yeah, yeah," Cale said. He got into his sleeping bag, and slept.

#

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Ash asked. "Samurai has been training for years."

"I'm sure," Cale replied. Cyndaquil stood at his side, and Beedrill hovered by his shoulder. Samurai stood across the field, his hands on a Pokeball.

Ash shrugged and moved away. Brock moved to the center of the field and went through the introduction. "Begin!" He called.

"Butterfree! I choose you!" Samurai called and tossed the ball into the air.

As Butterfree materialized, Cale turned to Beedrill. "Go ahead." It almost looked as if the Pokémon were smiling.

"Butterfree, climb!"

Cale followed the butterfly with his eyes. "Beedrill, follow." Both Pokémon soared into the air, keeping their distance, never taking their eyes off one another.

"Stun Spore!"

The orange powder spilled from Butterfree's wings. "Dodge," Cale called. Beedrill waved out of the way.

"Tackle Butterfree!"

"Dodge again!" Butterfree zoomed at Beedrill, but the latter managed to climb high enough to dodge.

The others were following the battle closely. "Beedrill's gotten a lot faster," Brock said.

Cale smiled. It was hard to say just how much faster Beedrill had gotten, but it was the one thing Cale had made him focus on. For hours they had raced each other across the field, which tended to leave Cale flat on the ground. "Pin Missile!" Beedrill's arms glowed before a shower of needles flew away into Butterfree, hitting it, but doing little damage.

"That attack won't work," Samurai called. "Butterfree, Tackle again!"

This time, Butterfree slammed into Beedrill, who flinched and faltered, but latched onto Butterfree as well. "Twin Needle," Cale called. Beedrill wound up and slammed his needles one after the other into Butterfree's underside. The latter squealed in pain.

Cale let himself smile until he heard, "Psychic!" An aura appeared around Beedrill and sent him plummeting to the ground. He'd expected it, as had Beedrill, but it was difficult to see again. There was hardly a defense against that move.

When the dirt of Beedrill's crash settled, the Pokémon struggled to get up. He wasn't out cold, like before, but the damage had been done. _He can't handle another one of those._ Samurai called for another Psychic. "Agility," Cale ordered. "Don't let it get a lock on you." Beedrill began to dart back and forth along the ground. Wherever Butterfree looked, a moment later, Beedrill would be gone.

"Twin Needle, Beedrill! Finish it!" His friend curved his way upwards, and suddenly found himself behind Butterfree. He slammed his needles into its back, and Cale felt the tension slide out of him. Butterfree would be down in a second.

"Psychic!" Samurai called, and Butterfree turned, took the attacks, and looked right at Beedrill. The aura appeared. Cale just stared at his friend crashed to the ground again. This time, he didn't rise.

"Beedrill is unable to battle," Brock said, raising his hand. "Butterfree is the winner."

Cale, in a daze, raised his Pokeball. He recalled Beedrill. _That was supposed to have worked._ The speed had been for nothing.

He turned to Cyndaquil. "Ready?" Cyndaquil nodded. Cale let him go. Butterfree had flown closer to the ground, and Cale ordered, "Quick Attack!"

Speed. To Cale it felt like the key. Your enemy couldn't hit you if it couldn't see you. For every exercise he had done with Beedrill, he'd done one with Cyndaquil as well. Quick Attack had been the result. Cyndaquil darted across the ground, a blur, leapt and slammed into Butterfree's underbelly.

Cyndaquil couldn't turn as well as Beedrill, but he hadn't needed to. "Butterfree, use-" Samurai started.

"Ember," Cale ordered before Samurai could give his. Cyndaquil rolled, looked up and fired an Ember attack right onto the spot he'd just rammed Butterfree.

Butterfree fell. It hit the ground. It didn't move. "Butterfree is unable to battle," Brock said. "Cyndaquil is the winner."

Cyndaquil looked back and smiled. Cale smiled right back. Samurai recalled the Butterfree and pulled free another Pokeball. "Not bad," he said, "but not good enough."

The thing that came out next was called a Pinsir, according to Cale's Pokedex. It loomed over Cyndaquil, but couldn't have been more than a few feet tall. _Another bug. Good._ "Cyndaquil, another Quick Attack!"

Cyndaquil darted forward. "Pinsir, Focus Punch!" The bug's arm glowed, and when Cyndaquil leapt up to strike, Pinsir brought it straight into his face. Cyndaquil didn't make a sound. He just flew back, landed in a heap, and was still.

No one moved. No one spoke. Then Brock took a step forward, raised his hand and said, "Cyndaquil is unable to battle. Pinsir is the winner."

One hit.

"What did you think?" Samurai asked. "That a week's worth of training would best my years?"

Cale didn't have an answer, because he had thought that. He'd been convinced. A week's intense training, and they could win. What had he said to Cyndaquil only days ago?_ I'm sorry I put you in that mess. That was my fault. It won't happen again._

Only now, Beedrill and Cyndaquil were unconscious, and the Pinsir didn't look fazed. It vanished into the Pokeball Samurai held with a red flash. "Still," he said, "you fought well."

_We did._ They'd beaten Butterfree, they could say that at least. Cale walked onto the field and scooped up Cyndaquil. He didn't think to put him in the Pokeball. "Thanks," he said to Samurai, and walked towards the cabin. The others watched him go. "Melanie," he said, over his shoulder, "do you have any more Potion?" She nodded and followed him inside.

"I'm sorry," she said when the door closed. Cale put Cyndaquil down onto the bed, and called out Beedrill, who was still passed out. "I know how badly you wanted to win."

"It's okay," Cale said. "Sometimes you just lose." They sat quietly as he sprayed the Potion onto his friends. "We'll come back for him," he said when the bottle was near empty. "One day, we'll march right back here and fight him.

"Everyone needs a rival," she said, smiling.

"Do you?" Cale asked.

She laughed and shook her head. "Of course not."

Cale felt as if the conversation were happening to someone else. It was as if he was eavesdropping. He meant what he said though. Whatever he'd built with Cyndaquil and Beedrill had been shattered in this fight.

He would pick up the pieces. No matter what it took, they'd keep fighting. He had his answer.

"Melanie?" He asked, after a while. She looked over at him. "Why did you stay? Really?"

She smiled. "Just thought you could use a friend." Cale doubted it was the whole reason. He remembered how awkward things had been after she'd seen his scars. For now, though, it was enough.

"Thanks," he said, and scratched Cyndaquil's fur.

#

_His ego led to failure._

_Failure is an important instructor._

_Failure is unacceptable in his circumstances._

_Then be glad he was not faced with those._

_He rails against who he is, lets his destiny fade with the focus of training._

_He does not know who he is. He will learn. He will be ready._


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Growth

Cale felt the kind of tired where everything spins around you, but you just drift.

He sat against the single tree in the Harrisons' backyard. He didn't feel right or good, just heavy-lidded and bone weary. Cyndaquil, curled up against his side, looked it too.

His group arrived in Pewter City that afternoon. They would've gotten there sooner, if not for Cale's insistence on waiting for Cyndaquil and Beedrill to awaken. Once they did, the Pokémon took their loss with humbly. Cale had expected Cyndaquil to relapse, but his friend remained stoic and sincere about his desire to continue training.

Beedrill had just sort of shrugged.

They weren't happy, but they would deal. _"We came this far,"_ Cyndaquil had said. _"We're not going to give up now."_ Cale knew his friend hurt, but when he heard the words, he felt as proud as his short memory allowed.

Shouts could be heard from inside the house. Cale couldn't make out the words; something about Brock's mother, and redecorating, and Rock and Water Pokémon. Cale had gone outside quickly. Everyone else was too polite and pretended not to be bothered by the Harrisons' argument.

Cale's relief at his Pokémon's acceptance of defeat had been short lived. Now, all he could think of was the blackout, and the look Melanie had given him. It'd been over a week ago, but it still stung.

_Stupid, pointless, self-pitying-_ The words came to his mind as quickly as he stopped them. They scared him.

"_It's getting late,"_ Cyndaquil said, with a look at the sky. _"Are we sleeping out here?"_

"If they keep arguing. I'd prefer the tree to listening to that all night." More furious words drifted into the backyard. "Not sure I could move, anyhow."

Cyndaquil curled up tighter. _"I'm surprised though."_

Cale yawned. "Why's that?"

"_Usually, you're at the center of arguments. You like to get in on-"_

A flash.

_There are six people in an alley. They're hurting someone with fists and feet and bats. It's a man, and he's on the ground. He's moaning, but they won't stop. One of them turns to me. "C'mon Cale," he says. "Get in on this!" I step forward._

Cale rolled onto his side, clutching his head, as Cyndaquil shook him. _"Cale! Cale!"_

_The alley!_ But, no. He wasn't in any alley. He was in Pewter City, in the Harrisons' backyard. With Cyndaquil. "I'm alright," Cale said. Cyndaquil kept shaking him. "I'm okay, relax."

"_Was that a vision? It looked like it hurt!"_ Cyndaquil backed off, but still looked worried.

"Just my head," Cale said. The pain receded faster than before. He wondered if it had to do with him not taking damage in the vision. There were no sensations of long gone bruises, or hot red slashes of newly cut scars. He took his hands away from his temples. "It's going now. I'll be fine in a second." He propped himself up against the tree and waited.

He didn't recognize the man on the ground, but he'd known the people hurting him. They were boys, some of them his age or younger. He didn't know the names. He only knew the faces.

"_What happened this time?"_

Cale told him.

"_Were you hurting him too?"_

Cale shrugged. "I don't know. I may have. The vision cut out before I could see."

"_You need sleep,"_ Cyndaquil said. _"I need sleep. We should go back inside."_

The argument didn't sound done, but Cale nodded. "At this point I _could_ probably sleep through that." He moved to stand, but someone said, "Cale!" and he plopped back down.

Melanie had opened the door, and stood on the porch's steps. "There you are!" She smiled and shut the door behind her. "I've been looking for you," she continued. As she got closer, Cale realized how glad he was to have spent the last few hours outside. Melanie looked stressed. "You look pretty bad."

"Thanks."

"You know what I mean. You really should get some sleep."

"Could you?"

Melanie shrugged. "They've got to be nearly done by now. I mean, it's been hours. By the way, what're you doing out here?"

Cale smiled. "Talking strategy." Cyndaquil smiled too.

"Right." Melanie looked them both over before shaking her head. "Well, you should come inside soon. It's getting pretty late."

"I know, I will." She turned and walked back inside.

After she'd gone in, Cyndaquil rolled onto his back and stared up at the sky. _"Are you ever going to tell her how you feel?"_

"About what?"

Cyndaquil squeaked a little laugh. _"Nothing, never mind."_

#

Melanie walked up the steps to the second floor. The room she'd been lent was upstairs. At the landing, she looked out the window and saw Cale in the backyard, back to a tree, talking to Cyndaquil.

She wondered if he knew she knew. The headaches, the nervousness, the doubling over in pain, she knew he hurt. What had happened to him? She'd been around awkward boys before, but Cale was different. She'd reach out to him, and he'd turn away. _Dummy._

Ash came around the corner and into the hall. He smiled at her, looked past her shoulder, and saw Cale. "He's still out there, huh?"

"Yeah. He said he was talking strategy with Cyndaquil, but I don't think he is." Ash nodded, but didn't say anything. Out in the yard, Cale's head had started to droop, and Cyndaquil smacked his leg. "Hey Ash?" He looked at her. "What's up with him?"

"What'd you mean?"

"How'd he get so, you know, like how he is?"

Ash reached up and scratched the back of his head. "I don't know. I don't think he knows either, but you could always ask him."

"Somehow," she sighed. "I doubt he'd tell me." Ash nodded, and they both turned from the window.

#

Cale trudged down the hallways to his room. Cyndaquil snored softly in his arms.

The Harrisons' house was nice, but seemed in the midst of remodeling. For every purposeful, plain piece of furniture, there sat some piece of exotic decoration next to it. A coffee table was set before a black leather couch covered in purple swirls. A bookcase sat next to a twisted statue. Cale guessed it an example of modern art.

No one argued as he made his way. He thought it strange he hadn't encountered one of Brock's many siblings, and on cue, one turned the corner. They nearly collided.

"Oh, sorry," Brock's brother said. He had the same look, but was much younger. Cale guessed thirteen. Spiky hair, narrow eyes, tan; it was a bit uncanny to see so many times. Cale didn't know this one's name. "You came with Brock, right?"

"Yeah," Cale whispered back. "I'm Cale."

"Forrest." He held out his hand, noticed Cyndaquil sleeping in Cale's arms, and lowered it. "Are you going to bed?" Cale nodded. "The stairs are at the end of the hall, I think your room was the first on the left." Cale muttered a "Thanks" and kept on his way. "Hey," Forrest called after him. Cale turned back. "Please don't think too harshly of our Gym because of this argument."

"I didn't. I wasn't going to." He continued on.

He dreamed of smoke.

A knock woke him. With a groan he pushed himself up, and noticed Cyndaquil squirming uncomfortably, still asleep. "Come in," he said when the knock came again.

Forrest opened the door slowly and poked his head in. "Just wanted to let you know, you missed breakfast. I was going to come and get you sooner, but that girl, Melanie, said to let you sleep."

"That's alright." He stood and stretched. "I needed to sleep, badly."

"The others said you lost a battle yesterday," Forrest said, coming into the room. "Sorry to hear that."

Cale looked over at Cyndaquil. His friend was still asleep. "Thanks, but we're fine. We trained for it, but you win some and lose some."

Forrest nodded. "I know how that is." He puffed himself up. "I'm the Gym leader here at Pewter City."

"You?"

"Me." He deflated a bit. "Of course, I haven't been able to take a challenger for a while. And all my Pokémon are Brock's."

There was a small sink in the corner, and Cale used it to splash water on his face. "I thought kids go on their journeys when they're ten?" Forrest shrugged. "What?" Cale asked. "You didn't get to go or something?"

"It's my parents' fault," Forrest said. "Ever since my mother came back from her _extended leave_, she's made my dad change everything about the Gym. She always has some excuse, about fashion scores or how Water Pokémon are so great. Brock, who was the old Gym Leader, appointed me to take over, but they never listen to anything I say. It's always up to Brock to fix things."

Cale pulled a shirt on. "That's rough."

"I mean," Forrest continued, "you're right. Most kids get to go on their trips when they're ten. But my parents said that as Gym leader, I had to stay. Only, they don't let me make any decisions, and I have no Pokémon of my own."

Cale knew he wasn't equipped to help Forrest sort his issues out. Though, all Forrest's talk of Gyms got him thinking about battling. They'd lost the day before, but that didn't mean they couldn't fight again soon. If they lost again, they lost again. That's all there was to it. Cale shoved aside the idea that he wasn't dealing with the blackout and visions, and liked the idea more and more. "So if I fought at your Gym, I wouldn't battle you?"

Forrest shrugged. "You may. Sometimes my dad likes to battle, sometimes my mom, when Brock comes home he fights too. I only get to battle when everyone else feels like it."

Cale didn't know how much more of the pity party he could take. He hadn't even eaten breakfast yet.

"Look," Forrest said, pushing off the wall he'd leaned against. "I'm sorry to bug you with this. It's just that Brock is always away, and I'm the second oldest, so my brothers and sisters don't really get it."

"Don't worry about it," Cale said. Cyndaquil rolled awake and blinked up at the two. "Is there any breakfast left over?" Forrest nodded. "Great." Forrest led them to the kitchen.

#

"Are you sure?" Cale asked.

Beedrill nodded and slapped his needles together. _"Yeah."_ Cale looked down at Cyndaquil, who nodded.

"Alright, then we've got some more training to do." They stood at Pewter City's edge. A river rushed by. Ever since they'd trained in Viridian Forest, Cale felt drawn to the woods. He liked it there. Training there felt more solid, somehow.

He took them into the forest, and they sparred. Cale knew the Pewter Gym focused on Rock Pokémon. At least, it would when Brock got through to his mother. He spent the morning watching his friends move into their different attacks, thinking and formulating strategies for their battle. He would go to Brock this evening, or anyone in the Harrison clan, and challenge them for a Boulder Badge. It was risky, considering their recent loss to Samurai, but Cale wanted to get over that quick.

Cale didn't notice Forrest approach until he said, "You know, if you fight Brock, he'll probably use Steelix."

"Oh yeah? I'm guessing it's a Steel type?"

Forrest nodded. "And Steel types are weak against Fire types."

"Why are you helping me?" Cale asked. Forrest just smiled up at him and shrugged.

"Not sure," he said. He settled down and watched as Cale put Cyndaquil and Beedrill through some more moves.

#

Melanie asked if he was sure for the tenth time. "Yes," Cale replied. She asked again. "Yes!"

They sat in the Harrisons' living room, the purple swirl couch. A fire crackled in the place. Cyndaquil lay curled up in Cale's arms. Cale stroked the fur around his scars. "And how come you haven't given me any advice?" Cale asked her. "You've got a Boulder Badge, right?"

She smiled and pulled back her jacket to reveal the badge pinned to the inside. "Yeah, but I fought Brock's father. You're fighting Brock. They may be in the same family and at the same Gym, but it's a mistake to mix up who you're fighting against. Brock could have a totally different strategy from his dad. He probably does."

Cale had challenged the Harrisons over dinner. Brock had accepted on his family's behalf. His mother had wailed about the lack of Water Pokémon, Flint tried to placate her, Forrest had kept quiet, and the other Harrison children had yammered on and on.

Through the walls, they could hear more arguing. "Can you believe them?" Melanie asked, looking over her shoulder. "They can't stop fighting. It's insane."

"Some families do that, I guess," Cale said with a shrug. "Didn't you fight with your mom and your sister?"

Melanie turned back and stretched her arms over her head. "Sure," she yawned. "But it was never this bad. With us, it was just nerves and little things. I think this family has some serious emotional problems."

Cale thought of Forrest, and what he'd told him. "Maybe."

"What's your family like?" She asked.

"I don't know my parents." Melanie didn't say anything, just looked at Cale with a mix of pity and shock. "It's no big deal."

"Yes, it is." She slid towards him then. Just a bit.

What did she expect? For him to cry? Cale didn't know, but he knew he needed to provide more answers. "They died when I was young," he said. "I moved from orphanage to orphanage for a while. That's the trip I was talking about." Melanie nodded. "Eventually, I moved in with Ash and his mother."

"Did she adopt you?"

Cale laughed at the image of Delia being his mother, and Ash his brother. "No, but I needed a place to stay, and they offered it. As annoying as Ash can be sometimes, I'm grateful." He meant it. He would never say it to Ash, but he owed the boy a lot for pulling him off the beach that day.

The firelight dimmed. Neither of them moved for a while. Then Cale stood, cradling Cyndaquil in his arms. "I should get some sleep. I've got a match tomorrow." He left her in the living room, smiling after him.

#

"This is an official Pewter City battle!" Forrest announced. They were gathered in the dimly lit gym, recently restored to its original state. Ash, Melanie, and the others were up in the stands, while on the ground, Cale faced off against Brock. Forrest stood on the sidelines, looking disappointed. "The Challenger, Cale, will face former gym leader Brock. This will be a two-on-two battle, the match will end when one trainer's Pokémon are unable to battle. No time limit!"

Cale had gotten something to eat at the Pokémon Center earlier. His stomach still kept flipping over. Cyndaquil looked just as nervous at his side.

When Forrest said, "Begin!" Brock threw a Pokeball into the arena. "Go Geodude!" A small boulder with muscular arms materialized, smiling. "Your move, Cale!"

He tossed Beedrill's Pokeball into the ring. His Pokémon smashed its needles together as it glared at Geodude. "Try and Poison Sting it," Cale said. "But keep your guard up. Test it."

"_Right!"_ Beedrill shot forward, stinger at the ready.

"Harden!"

Beedrill's needle slammed into Geodude, but bounced off. Beedrill darted from side to side around it, poking and prodding it. Geodude never moved. _It's too tough for that._ "Keep your distance, Beedrill. It'll have to come to you!"

"You're not going to win without attacking," Brock called. Cale rolled his eyes. _Why does everyone have to comment on everything during a battle?_ "Tackle!"

Geodude lurched forward, shoulder first and slammed into Beedrill. The Bug flew back and hit the wall, then pushed himself off and shook its head. "You okay?" Cale asked. Beedrill nodded. _We can't let that hit again._

"Tackle again!"

"Agility!" Beedrill dashed away, and Geodude soared past him. Brock ordered it to chase Beedrill down, and the two began to zigzag all through the air of the arena. "Keep dodging!" Cale got worried. Agility was fine for now, but he'd need to attack sooner or later. He'd hoped Geodude would tire before Beedrill.

"Rock Throw!" Geodude halted, grabbed a large boulder from the battlefield, and hurled it at Beedrill. He dodged, but barely. "Keep it up!" At a speed that didn't seem possible, Geodude grabbed more and more boulders, and chucked them all at Beedrill.

Still, Beedrill dodged, and while Cale felt some pride in his Pokémon, he also knew Beedrill couldn't keep it up. They'd been training for speed for some time now, but Beedrill was still freshly caught. Geodude would outlast him. _C'mon! Focus!_

"Geodude, Sandstorm!" Geodude folded its arms around itself and began to spin. A whirlwind of sand kicked up and grew to cover the whole arena. Though thin, Cale could tell it would sting the eyes of anyone who got in there.

As the sand rose, so did a calm in Cale. It nagged at him from the back of his mind, but by the time he paid any attention to it, he felt enveloped by it. He looked at the Sandstorm, and saw only one solution. "Beedrill," he shouted. "Take the Sandstorm. Fly directly in and head for Geodude!" Beedrill gave what looked like a shrug, and dived into the veil. "Keep going!"

He watched Beedrill burrow through the flying sand, as Geodude spun faster and faster. When he got within striking range of Geodude, Beedrill lifted his arm up to shield his eyes. "Now spit it faster!" Cale yelled.

Beedrill raised his needles and slammed them into Geodude's side, increasing the spin's momentum. Cale didn't bother to look at Brock's face. He stayed focused. Focused and calm. "Now use your needles to spin it in different directions, and use Agility to increase your speed for each strike!" Beedrill darted away, and sped back into Geodude, then again from another angle, then again. Geodude began to double over and spin in all sorts of directions, and always faster. The Sandstorm, its focal point disrupted, began to dissipate.

"Geodude, stop!" Brock shouted, but Cale saw it was too late. Geodude was spinning too fast to stop now. Meanwhile, Beedrill kept up the strikes.

"Twin Needle! Smash it into the ground!" Beedrill barreled down at Geodude from above, and shoved the Rock forward with his attack. Geodude dropped, and slammed into the ground. A thick cloud of dust kicked up.

"Awesome!" Cale heard Melanie shout from above. He looked to the bleachers. Melanie, Ash, Misty, Brock's family, everyone was on their feet, glued to the railing. Melanie beamed. "Way to go Beedrill!"

Beedrill hovered over the cloud, looking for Beedrill. When the dust cleared, Geodude lay lodged in the ground, unconscious. Forrest raised his arm. "Geodude is unable to battle! Beedrill is the winner!"

_Holy shit that worked!_ "Of course it worked," Cale said as Brock recalled Geodude. He pushed the celebratory words away. They were only half done. "Good job, Beedrill." Beedrill nodded.

"Alright Cale," Brock said, grinning. "Let's see if you can deal with my first Pokémon." He pulled a worn looking Pokeball from his belt and threw it. "Go Steelix!"

The giant Steel snake rose and roared. Cyndaquil shifted at his feet. Both Cale and Cyndaquil knew he'd have to fight soon, Beedrill was nearly expended. "You okay to continue Beedrill?" Cale asked.

"_Yeah,"_ Beedrill said, but he didn't sound too sure.

Brock pointed at Beedrill. "Iron Tail, Steelix!" Steelix's tail lit white, and with another roar, it whipped it around at Beedrill.

Before Cale could command a dodge, the Iron Tail collided with Beedrill and he dropped to the floor, out. "Beedrill is unable to battle," Forrest said. "Steelix is the winner."

_That was quick._ Cale recalled Beedrill and turned to Cyndaquil. "You ready?" As an answer, Cyndaquil ran into the arena. _Here we go._

"Steelix, Tackle!"

"Dodge to the left!" Steelix missed by inches. "Ember!" Cyndaquil released a strong burst of the attack, which pounded into Steelix's side. The giant snake growled in pain, but looked unfazed.

"Dragonbreath!" Steelix reared back and released a thick green stream of energy. It smashed into Cyndaquil and he fell to the ground.

As Cyndaquil pulled himself up, Cale called, "Keep your guard up, you can't get hit by that again." Cyndaquil grunted an acknowledgement. "Ember, again." The attack would hurt, but he didn't know how much of it Steelix could take.

"Alright Steelix, Dig!" Steelix flung itself into the floor, and burrowed into it, leaving a huge hole in its wake.

"Move Cyndaquil! Don't let it come up under you!" Cyndaquil started to run, but before he could go more than a few steps, Steelix erupted from the ground, and send the little Pokémon flying.

"Dragonbreath!"

"Roll to the right!" Cyndaquil did, and barely avoided the green stream. _Can't let him see us_. "Smokescreen!"

Cyndaquil spit out a thick stream of smoke. It filled the battlefield faster than Geodude's Sandstorm. "Not bad," Brockcalled. "But Steelix can sense where Cyndaquil is if he uses Dig." Cale heard the huge Pokémon burrow back into the ground.

"Get out of-" But Cale's warning came too late. Steelix exploded up as before, and though Cale couldn't see it, he heard Cyndaquil's cry. Brock began a series of Dig attacks, and though Cyndaquil avoided the main thrust of them all, Cale could sense his strength fading. _C'mon! Think! Steelix can't focus in the Smokescreen, there's got to-_ Then he had it. "Cyndaquil, run to a crater, one Steelix came out of." _Steelix makes huge tunnels, they must be all over the place._

"_Got one!"_ Cyndaquil called.

"Fire your strongest Smokescreen into the hole!" He heard the sounds, but couldn't see anything.

A minute passed, then Steelix emerged a good distance from Cyndaquil. The surface's Smokescreen had begun to dissipate. Cale heard what sounded like a strange kind of coughing. Steelix couldn't breathe. "Cyndaquil, Ember full blast!"

The smoke cleared and Cale saw his friend firing off Ember after Ember, and answered with Steelix's hisses of pain and coughs. Steelix fell. Still, Cyndaquil fired.

Then Cyndaquil stopped. Steelix didn't move. Forrest raised his hand. "Steelix is unable to battle. Cyndaquil wins, the match goes to Jack!"

Everything fell away. The questions, the focus, the anger and frustration over the loss to Samurai. It was all Cale could do not to run into the ring and hug Cyndaquil. He smiled, then laughed, then cheered. Cyndaquil teetered, and then collapsed, but Cale had reached him. He scooped his friend up and smiled down at him. "Great! Fantastic! Amazing!"

Cyndaquil beamed. The tension he'd seen in his friend was gone. _"Can we go to the Center now?"_

"You bet," Cale said. He knew his words rang out to everyone, but he didn't care. They'd won, _they'd won!_ He started to walk away.

"Hold it!" Cale turned to see Brock recall Steelix. He walked over, smiled, and held out his hand. In it he had a small gray octagon. "You fought well, Cale. You've earned this Boulderbadge. Congratulations."

He heard Ash and the others call from above. Shouts of "Great job!" and "Way to go!"

Cale stared at the badge for a minute, before reaching out and taking it. "Thanks Brock." He held it up for Cyndaquil to see. "See what we got?"

"_Great, can we _please_ go to the Center?"_

"We're going," Cale said. "We're going." They did.

#

His Pokémon gone, Cale ate. The Center's deserted cafeteria offered bland deli meats and dry bread, but Cale scarfed it down. He enjoyed the quiet. After a weekend with the Harrisons' he realized he'd missed it.

Then Forrest came in. "That was an amazing match!" Forrest stood next to his table and shuffled his feet. "I wish I could battle like that with Pokémon of my own."

"Listen Forrest-"

"It's just that I can't because of my parents."

Cale didn't slam the fork down, but it did bang loud enough. "Then do something about it." He said the words harshly, worse than he intended, but he meant them. "I'm sorry your home life sucks, Forrest. But sitting around and complaining about it to strangers isn't going to help. Either make the change yourself, or shut up about it."

He didn't regret the words, but he did feel bad about them. Forrest looked lost, and couldn't seem to speak. His eyes glazed a bit. Then he turned and marched out. He never said a word.

Cale went back to his food, glad at least, Cyndaquil hadn't been there to berate him for being so mean. "Tough love," he said to his sandwich.

#

When the sun began to set, Flint came into the living room, seized Cale by the shirt collar, and screamed something at him.

"Fuck you, old man," Cale replied. His stomach and chest filled with bile, and he lashed back the only way his body knew how. "Put your hands on me again and I'll rip your fucking eyes out." The words poured from him like acid, hot and sickening.

Flint took the words and stood his ground. "My son is gone. Nurse Joy over at the Center said he talked to you last, so tell me what you told him."

"I told him to stop complaining about his life, and to do something about it." He smiled. "Looks like he did."

"Where'd he go?" When Cale didn't answer, Flint repeated the question, louder.

"I don't know."

Everyone stayed still, as if moving would set off another verbal explosion. Cyndaquil crouched on the ground, his backflame lit.

"You're going to help us find him," Flint said.

"Fine." And that was that. They left the room, one by one, and let each other know where they'd search. Cale took Cyndaquil and went to the forest's edge. No one came with him.

"_What was that all about?"_ Cyndaquil asked when they got to Pewter's edge.

Cale shrugged. "What's it matter?"

"It does." Cyndaquil pulled up in front of him. "When Flint came at you, you looked like a different person. It scared me."

_It scared me too._ He shoved the thoughts aside. "Can we do this later? We need to find Forrest."

They searched for a time, finding nothing. Then Melanie came and found him. "They found Forrest," she said.

"Where?" Cale asked.

"At the Center, he'd taken a room. I think he planned on heading out when the sun came up." They returned to the Center.

#

Cale shoved everything into his bag, happy to finally be leaving the Harrisons' and Pewter City. The family had talked into the night with Forrest, and Cale had had to cover his head with a pillow to muffle the voices.

He had his Boulder Badge in his pocket. He had won, and was happy, but the situation with Flint had soured him a bit.

A knock on the door interrupted his packing. "Yeah?" He asked without looking up. The door creaked open, and Forrest stepped in. "Pokémon center, huh?"

"Yeah," Forrest said, his voice shaking a bit. "I guess I kind of blew it last night."

"At least you have a bed to sleep in."

"Yeah. Thanks for trying to help. I know you meant to."

Cale nodded. "Seen your dad this morning?"

"No. He was gone when I woke up. I don't know where he went."

"Guess I won't have to say bye." Cale smiled.

"Guess so," Forrest said. "I wish I was going with you guys."

The kid wouldn't give up. Cale supposed that was a good thing. "Yeah, I know. Look Forrest, just keep at it. Eventually, something will change." Forrest just nodded. Cale finished packing and left the room.

Everyone had assembled downstairs, and after a few groggy, "mornings," they headed to the kitchen for breakfast.

"So, I guess we're heading for Cerulean next, right?" Misty asked. "I've got to get back home after all."

"It's where I'm going," Cale said.

Melanie took a bite of toast, and said with her mouth full, "Me too." Cale blinked in surprise. "Well," she continued, "there aren't any more gyms in this area. Got to get through Cerulean to get to the next one."

Cale nodded. He'd figured Melanie would drop from the group, but he started to think it unlikely. Cyndaquil smirked up at him from the floor.

"Guess Cale will have to battle you, Misty," Ash said.

They all spoke some more before Flint entered the kitchen and cleared his throat. "Forrest," he said. His son stared at his feet. "May I have a word with you?"

Forrest stood and followed his father out of the kitchen. Flint, apparently underestimating everyone's ears, began to speak. "I know we've had some problems, son. And I'm not very good at things like this, but I wanted to say I'm sorry. When your mother gets back from the store, I'm sure she'll say the same thing."

"Thanks Dad." The words were flat.

"I know it seems pretty late," Flint continued, "and I know that it's going to take a long time to patch things up between us, but I've got something I'd like to give you." He came back into the kitchen and motioned for everyone to follow. "I've got something to show Forrest, won't you all come?"

They filed outside, into the sunny front yard. Flint turned to Forrest. "I know you've missed out on a lot of things most kids get to do. I hope you'll eventually forgive me for that, but for now, I hope this serves as a bandage." Flint whistled and the ground began to shake.

Cale lost his footing, and grabbed Brock's shoulder instinctively. The former gym trainer didn't even seem to mind. "Is that an earthquake?"

"Not quite," Flint said, smiling. From behind the bushes, a huge form emerged.

"It's a Rhyhorn!" Forrest cried. He took some steps towards the Pokémon.

"I picked it up this morning," Flint said.

"He's so cool!" Forrest was right up to it now. The Pokémon smiled over at him, and Forrest circled it, inspecting.

Flint nodded. "He's yours. Happy tenth birthday, even if it is a little late."

"Thank you!"

"There's more!" Flint was grinning like a madman now. It made Cale smile a bit too. "I've talked it over with your mother, and we've decided to let you go on your own journey."

Forrest stopped petting Rhyhorn and turned to his father. "Are you serious?"

"Yes."

"But what about everything here?"

"I've still got a few years left in me," Flint said. "I'll take care of the gym. You go see the world, and when you're ready, come back." He turned to Brock. "I hope you don't mind taking your little brother with you for a while? You know, show him the ropes?"

Brock smiled and nodded. "You got it."

"Good." He turned back to Forrest. "When your mother gets back with your starter supplies, we'll get you packed."

Hours later, Forrest had his own backpack slung over his shoulder. His mother cried and hugged him, and his father just smiled and said he was proud. Forrest looked like a new person. "I'm so excited," he whispered to Cale as they started to walk.

Cale shrugged. "I told you something would give." Cyndaquil smiled up at him. Cale forgot about the things nagging him, and let himself be happy for the brief time he would be.

#

"_Another has joined their ranks."_

"_Indeed."_

"_At this rate, he'll have a small army."_

"_This group will not stay together long. They all have their own roads to take."_

"_Will he walk his alone?"_

"_That remains to be seen."_


End file.
